Surrogacy couple can avoid quarantine
IRISH couples who have travelled abroad for surrogacy will be exempt from mandatory hotel quarantine when they return.
Mark Hedderman and Sinéad Gallagher-Hedderman who are in the Ukraine after having a baby boy through surrogacy 11 days ago have welcomed the news, saying they were looking forward to bringing their newborn home.
This comes after the EU Commission this week said that the Irish Government should use ‘less restrictive’ quarantine measures for travellers arriving from EU countries.
Ukraine was added to the mandatory hotel quaratine list while the Heddermans were in Kiev following the birth. They sought an exemption to enable them to bring baby Theo to their home to Dublin and brought the matter before the High Court.
The court heard yesterday that it is the Minister for Health’s ‘firm intention’ to make regulations to allow people who have travelled to ‘red list’ states for surrogacy to be exempt.
It is understood that Health Minister Stephen Donnelly wrote a letter to the couple to ensure they will be allowed to board flights back home to Dublin. The couple are expected to return this morning.
The letter outlined that they will be exempt, subject to the regulations being finalised.
As of Thursday evening, 377 people had completed quarantine. There are 532 people in a designated facility, according to the Department of Health.
However, the controversial system continues to spark international tensions. The EU Commission has written to the Government asking it to set out the criteria used to determine which countries go on the list. Spokesman Christian Wigand said that the Commission has concerns about the system’s ‘proportionality and non-discrimination’.
The State’s quarantine system was extended on Thursday and now includes five EU countries – France, Italy, Belgium, Austria and Luxembourg.