Same-sex parents ‘in legal quagmire’

As the first anniversary of the marriage equality referendum approaches, the Government has been accused of failing same-sex married couples with donor conceived children due to a delay in commencing crucial legislation.

Dr Brian Tobin, lecturer at the School of Law in NUI Galway, said the last government had failed to commence “vital provisions” of the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015, even though it was signed into law by President Michael D Higgins in April last year.

He said the new Fine Gael-led minority government needs to remedy what he called an untenable state of affairs as soon as possible, as lesbian married couples with donor-conceived children are “currently left in a legal quagmire”.