State fights ruling on ‘genetic’ surrogacy

A surrogate who gave birth to twins using genetic material of a couple must, as a matter of law, remain registered as the mother of those children on their birth certificates or there will be “massive” and “radical” consequences, the State has argued before the Supreme Court.

The State’s position is that a woman who gives birth to a child is the mother of that child; that motherhood as a matter of fact and common sense involves pregnancy; and it cannot in law be based on genetics, said counsel Michael McDowell.

It would be a matter of “grave public concern” with consequences for citizenship, succession, and the criminal law if the Supreme Court does not overturn the High Court decision that the woman who donated the genetic material to the surrogate must be registered as the mother, he argued.