IRISH COUPLES WHO enter into surrogacy arrangements abroad may not be recognised as the child’s legal parents even if they are the genetic mother and father, new Government guidelines state.

The woman who gives birth to a child is the legal mother even if another woman’s ovum is used, according to the guidelines. Moreover, if the surrogate mother is married, her husband is automatically recognised as the father unless proved otherwise.

A woman commissioning a surrogacy arrangement with someone abroad cannot ever be recognised in Ireland as the legal mother, even if the child is hers genetically.

A surrogacy arrangement is one in which a couple who may be infertile pay a woman – often in another country – to become pregnant with their child. Irish couples may use their own ovum and sperm to fertilise an embryo, which is then implanted in a surrogate mother’s womb.

However, in this case the surrogate mother would still be legally recognised as the parent and have a “life-long legal relationship” with the child, the guidelines state.

Under Irish law, family relationships and the rights and responsibilities that flow from them cannot be subjected to the ordinary law of contract and cannot, in particular, be transferred to another person, bought, or sold.

The guidelines, which were issued today by the Department of Justice and Equality, also deal with travel arrangements for children born under surrogacy arrangements. They set out a range of conditions which must be met before a child can be given travel documents – even of an emergency nature – to enable it to enter Ireland.

Minister Alan Shatter said he intends to bring in new legislation to deal with surrogacy cases. He added that any new law would be written “taking into account developments in the law of other jurisdictions, and practical experience in dealing with surrogacy cases”.

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