Ireland ‘risks custody cases over babies born from donations’
Clinical director of the Cork Fertility Centre, Dr John Waterstone, said legislation underpinning the rights and duties of parents whose children resulted from donations must be introduced urgently.
In many cases, such parents were going abroad for infertility treatment and having the babies in Ireland.
“The exact legal status of those children is not spelt out and there could be test cases in the future. To me that is where the need for legislation is most urgent,” said Dr Waterstone.
After Wednesday’s High Court ruling that frozen embryos do not have the same constitutional right as those carried in the womb, the Department of Health said it was preparing legislation to regulate clinics offering in vitro fertilisation. However, it is unlikely that the legislation will be introduced before next year’s general election. It is also unclear if the High Court decision will be appealed by the parties involved.
Dr Waterstone, a founder member of the Irish Fertility Society, a forum for health professionals working in the area of human fertility, said parents who participated in egg and sperm donation programmes were anxious to have their legal position spelt out. Unlike Ireland, the legal situation is crystal clear in Britain, he said.
“If a woman has a baby in that country, it does not matter that she got an egg donation in Spain. It’s her baby legally — there are no ifs, buts or maybes because it is very well spelt out. That’s what we need.”
Because the waiting time for egg donation here can run into years and there is no formal donor recruitment programme, women often leave the country to find donors. Spain is the destination of choice for couples seeking donor eggs because donors can remain anonymous, and so more women offer their eggs.
Waiting times are around three or four months on Spanish donor programmes.
Dr Waterstone described as “reasonable” the High Court judgement regarding that frozen embryos do not have the same constitutional right to life as those carried in the month: “All of us in the Cork Fertility Centre welcomed the decision and think it is very reasonable. It is also in keeping with the way we feel and the way we are practicing.”
