New law for donor-birth lesbian parents

THE Government is to legislate for female same-sex partners to be each recorded on birth certs as a child’s mother in cases of donor-aided births.

But doing the same for same-sex fathers is trickier because of the need to identify an offspring’s natural mother, and will be the subject of further study.

Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty is to publish a Civil Registration Bill to ‘resolve a number of difficulties in the registration of donor-assisted births’.

The main purpose of the move is to provide for registration of donor-assisted births and make it possible for both partners in female same-sex relationships to be registered as parents, Ms Doherty said.

‘In the case of children already born via a donor-assisted birth, it will provide for same-sex female couples to have particulars of both parents included on the certificate,’ she confirmed. Currently, particulars of only the biological mother can be included on the birth cert. But under these new provisions, both lesbian partners can be recorded as ‘parent’ on the birth certificate.

This will equally apply to non-same-sex parents should they so choose, recording them as parents, rather than the traditional mother and father descriptions. Ms Doherty said: ‘I am delighted to move this matter quickly towards debate and legislation.’

It is expected the Bill will be published later this week and brought before the Houses of the Oireachtas in due course.