Surrogacy plea: 'If it's legal to donate blood, then why not a uterus?'

Cathy Wheatley, centre, with her twins Ted and Elsie, 2, who were born by surrogacy in Ukraine to Ivanna Holub, pictured, with her three children Oleg 5, right, Sergii ,7 and baby Ludmilla, 6 months at the Wheatley home in Co. Wicklow. Photo: Moya Nolan

A Ukrainian surrogate mother has called on the Irish government to recognise international surrogacy.

Ivanna Holub, surrogate mother to a pair of Irish twins, said if it is legal to donate blood to save a life, it should be legal for one woman to “donate” her uterus to another to give life.

"Every woman deserves a chance to be a mother. Surrogacy should not, in effect, be condemned in the eyes of the Irish State. 

"I do not understand why surrogacy is not legislated for in this country," she said.

Ms Holub agreed in 2019 to be a surrogate mother for Cathy Wheatley and husband Keith in order to carry and then give birth to the couple’s now two-year-old twins, Ted and Elsie.

Ms Wheatley helped rescue Ms Holub and her children Sergii, 7, Oleg, 5, and five-month-old Luda from their home in Myrhorod, near the central Ukraine city of Poltava. Both families are now living together in Wicklow and recently appeared on the Late Late Show to tell their story.

Ms Wheatley, spokesperson for advocacy group Irish Families Through Surrogacy (IFTS), is campaigning for equal rights for Irish children born through surrogacy, and legal recognition for their Irish mothers.

With many surrogacy arrangements for Irish couples and individuals are currently done abroad, the lack of surrogacy legislation in Ireland is problematic.

Genetic fathers of children born through surrogacy have more rights than the child’s intended mother or — in the case of same-sex couples — intended second parent. As a result, intended parents of children born through surrogacy spend years fighting through the courts for basic parenting rights.

Until, for example, the intended mother or intended second parent is given guardianship rights, they can’t give their consent for their children to be vaccinated or even stay with them overnight if they have to be treated in hospital. But even with legal guardianship, this expires when a child reaches 18.

Ms Holub said: “I do not understand why international surrogacy arrangements are not recognised in Ireland. I also do not understand why only the father has rights and not the intended mother. This is nonsense. 

"Cathy’s children lived in my womb for nine months, but that's all. Their parents are their parents and should have full legal recognition as such."

The establishment in January of a Special Joint Oireachtas Committee to examine international surrogacy was welcomed by groups like IFTS. But it has since led to the re-emergence of concerns on the issue that date back decades to when similar concerns were looked at by the State.

The Department of Justice’s Head of Policy for Civil Justice, for example, has claimed international surrogacy has led to the exploitation of “many” people.

Speaking on April 7, Andrew Munro also claimed there were “many bad actors” involved in international surrogacy, especially in countries with “weak public administration”.

A spokesperson said: "Irish Families Through Surrogacy continue to strongly advocate for the implementation of international surrogacy legislation in order to create safeguards to protect all parties involved, the child, surrogate mother and intended parents."