International surrogacy must form part of Health Minister’s Bill – Seery Kearney

International surrogacy must form a key part of our future legislation on assisted human rights reproduction, a Fine Gael Senator has said.

Senator Mary Seery Kearney said the Health Minister cannot attribute blame or any delays in the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill on the special committee on international surrogacy which has been meeting since April.

This week, Minister Donnelly said the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill would be law by now if it had not been halted to accommodate the work of the special committee on international surrogacy to sit.

The Bill will regulate all forms of assisted human reproduction including in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), screening and surrogacy.

Senator Seery-Kearney took exception to Minister Donnelly’s comments and said rather than trying to pit advocates of international surrogacy against future funding of IVF in this country, he should bring forward all legislation at the same time.

“We have a unique opportunity to have a world class provision for both domestic and international surrogacy, as well as funding IVF cycles, for those who desperately need it and have long been awaiting it. This isn’t an either-or situation.

“The Health Minister has an opportunity to provide for equality for children born by international surrogacy and to fund IVF.

“It is disappointing the Minister would choose to be divisive by characterising the need for a legislative architecture for international surrogacy as being in competition with and detracting from the provision of much needed funding for IVF in Ireland. This legislation is urgently needed, both for future families grown via surrogacy and for the children already born via surrogacy, who are without legislative protections.

“What is particularly curious about the Minister’s remarks is the fact that IVF funding is not provided for in the AHR Bill, neither for that matter is maternity and surrogacy leave.

“The Committee on International Surrogacy has committed to issuing its report within the 12-week timeframe and has worked extremely diligently to ensure that timeframe is reached.

“Every witness before the surrogacy committee has called for the need for international surrogacy legislation to provide a pathway to legal parental relationships between children born via surrogacy and their parents equally.

“I am calling on the Minister to clarify his remarks, attend a meeting of the surrogacy committee when invited and ultimately to include the recommendations of the committee as amendments in the AHR Bill,” Senator Seery-Kearney said.