Title of the law Children and Family Relationships Act 2015

Date of adoption and entry into force Enacted 6^th April 2015, fully commenced on 4^th May 2020

Published in Irish Statute Book

The Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 was signed into law by the President in July 2024, having passed all stages in both Houses of the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament). The AHR Act 2024, which is yet to be fully commenced, encompasses the regulation for the first time of a wide range of practices undertaken in Ireland, including: the use and donation of gametes and embryos for AHR and research; pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT) of embryos; posthumous assisted human reproduction (PAHR); and embryo and stem cell research. Additionally, the AHR Act 2024 provides for regulation of domestic altruistic surrogacy but also provides for the regulation of future surrogacy arrangements undertaken by Irish residents in other jurisdictions. In addition, the legislation allows for the recognition of parentage arising from certain past domestic and international surrogacy arrangements.

6. Is donation of sperm/oocytes/embryos permitted in your country? Yes. Under the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015, gamete and embryo donation are permitted on a non-anonymous basis. In addition, this legislation provides for the establishment of a National Donor-Conceived Person Register, which will allow donor-conceived children to access certain information regarding the gamete/embryo donor involved in procedures leading to their conception. It is intended that the proposed legislation pertaining to assisted human reproduction will deal with broader issues relating to donation (e.g., age limits, screening, storage periods, the avoidance of consanguinity and donation for research purposes).

7. Are there specific compensation arrangements for donations of sperm/oocytes/embryos? Yes. Under the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015, commercial gamete and embryo donation is prohibited. Gamete and embryo donation may only operate on an altruistic basis and the reimbursement of reasonable expenses incurred as part of the donation process will be permitted. Reasonable expenses, for the purposes of the Act means: travel costs, medical expenses and any legal or counselling costs incurred by the donor.

8. Are there specific criteria for donation of sperm/oocytes/embryos? Yes. The Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 sets out a number of criteria in relation to the consent of gamete/embryo donors. For instance, a donor must be over 18 and must give consent in writing, having confirmed that s/he has been informed that s/he will not be the parent of a child born through the donation. The consent must be witnessed. The donor must agree, when consenting, to the inclusion of information about him/her on the National Donor-Conceived Person Register. The consent must also indicate that the donor understands that a donor-conceived child may seek to contact her/him.  Assisted human reproduction clinics should be satisfied that where donated gametes/embryos are being imported from another jurisdiction, the consent process in the other jurisdiction is in line with the stipulations set out above. Donors must undergo medical screening in accordance with requirements set out under SI No. 158/2006 European Communities (Quality and Safety of Human Tissues and Cells) Regulations 2006.

9. Are there specific non-medical criteria for selection of gametes/embryos to be used for MAP? No

10. Are there special measures for the prevention of consanguinity? Yes. There is a professional recommendation in place established by the Irish Clinical Embryologists Association whereby clinics maintain a 4-family limit per donor.  Section 33 of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 contains provisions to limit the use of donated material from the same relevant donor so that the resulting children born are not born to more than 4 families. 

11. In a homosexual couple, is a legal relationship possible between a child and the partner of the legal parent? Yes. 

Under the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015, the parents of a donor-conceived child who is born as a result of a donor assisted human reproduction procedure are

(a) the mother, and

(b) the husband, civil partner or cohabitant, as the case may be, of the mother.

2. Are there specific criteria for access to MAP? 

Medical reasons:

a. Infertility:

For a heterosexual couple? No; For women not living in a heterosexual couple? No

b. Risk of transmission of a disease

For a heterosexual couple? Yes; For women not living in a heterosexual couple? Yes

c. Other

3. Are MAP procedures covered by the social security system? Yes. 

Referrals for publicly-funded, privately-provided assisted human reproduction treatment commenced in September 2023.

There is also support available in that patients who access IVF treatment privately may claim tax relief on the costs involved under the tax relief for medical expenses scheme. In addition, the costs of a defined list of fertility medicines needed for fertility treatment is covered under the publicly-funded schemes.

4. Are there specific criteria for such coverage? Yes. The access criteria for publicly-funded treatment were agreed following consultation with experts in the field of reproductive medicine and include limits in respect of the age of the intending birth mother, body mass index (BMI), the number of previous AHR procedures/cycles undertaken and the number of children a couple already have.

5. Is the financial coverage limited to a number of MAP procedures? Yes. One full publicly-funded cycle of IVF (with or without ICSI), which will comprise of one episode of ovarian stimulation and the transfer of any resultant fresh or frozen embryos until such time as all resultant embryos have been used or the treatment results in a live birth. Also up to three IUI procedures can be publicly funded.

1. Is access to medically assisted procreation (MAP)

a. restricted to heterosexual couples? No

b. possible for women not living in a heterosexual couple? Yes

Based on the principles of equality and non-discrimination, both the 2015 Act and the 2024 Act provide that AHR services should be available to people irrespective of their gender, marital status or sexual orientation, subject to consideration of the welfare of any future children.

19. Is there an important current debate in your country on these or related issues? Yes. Further legislation is being drafted to address outstanding issues in this area and it is envisaged that the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) (Amendment) Bill will be published and introduced to Parliament in the coming months. There are a number of ongoing legal cases before the Courts which have implications in this area also. Overall, there has been and will continue to be widespread stakeholder engagement and national debate on these sensitive and complex matters.

20. Delegations are invited to provide information, in this section, on particular cases encountered in their country, and especially their case-law.

Roche -v- Roche & ors (2009)

Supreme Court unanimously dismissed an appeal by a separated mother requesting to have three frozen embryos implanted in her womb against the wishes of her estranged husband.

 The appeal was brought on the following grounds:

• To decide whether there was a legally enforceable agreement between the parties as to what would happen to the frozen embryos
• To decide whether constitutional protection afforded to the life of the “unborn” (Article 40.3.3) extends to the 3 frozen embryos at issue.

Judgment

Legally Enforceable Agreement:

During their treatment the parties signed four consent forms as required by the clinic. As consent forms, they were found not to contain the necessary criteria for legal contracts.

None of the consent forms dealt with the three surplus frozen embryos, therefore, there was no evidence that the respondent gave his consent to their implantation.

Constitutional Protection:

Article 40.3.3 of the Irish Constitution protects the right to life of the unborn “with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother”. The Court interpreted this provision as meaning there must be a physical link between the unborn and the mother i.e. implantation in the womb.

The Court decided that the purpose of the 8th Amendment to the Constitution (1983 Referendum) was to prevent the de-criminalisation of abortion and that issues relating to IVF were not considered or foreseen.

A number of the Judgments stated that if respect for an embryo were carried to the point of equating it to the “unborn” a situation might arise where some methods of contraception e.g. morning after pill would be outlawed.

High Court Ruling: http://www.courts.ie/Judgments.nsf/bce24a8184816f1580256ef30048ca50/e5617d292b7b6b268025724800329992?OpenDocument

Supreme Court Ruling: http://www.courts.ie/Judgments.nsf/0/0973CBD1FD5204028025768D003D60F7

MR and Anor – v- An tArd Chlaraitheoir & Ors [2014]

This case concerned an arrangement whereby a woman agreed to act as a surrogate for her sister and brother-in-law (the commissioning couple). The commissioning couple provided the genetic material (egg and sperm), which ultimately resulted in the birth of twins. The commissioning couple sought to have the birth register altered so that both the commissioning couple were registered as the legal parents. The Registrar refused to do so, on the principle that he woman who has given birth to a child is always regarded as the legal mother. That refusal was challenged in the High Court.

In his judgment of 5th March 2013, Judge Abbott found in favour of the commissioning couple. He held that the genetic mother, and not the birth mother, was the mother, and that the person with the genetic/blood link was entitled to be registered as the parent on the birth certificate.

In February 2014, the State appealed Judge Abbott’s decision on the grounds that: it could create uncertainty regarding the parentage and parental rights of children born as a result of egg donation; demean the role of birth mother; lead to an opinion that commercial surrogacy is not unlawful; and result in the Registrar requiring genetic proof of maternity for every birth.

In November 2014 the Supreme Court overturned the High Court decision on the basis that the case had raised important, complex and social issues which are best addressed by the Oireachtas rather than the judiciary.

High Court Ruling: http://www.courts.ie/Judgments.nsf/bce24a8184816f1580256ef30048ca50/e3f0dc917872554c80257b250052dab3?OpenDocument

Supreme Court Ruling: http://www.courts.ie/Judgments.nsf/0/E238E39A6E756AB480257D890054DCB6  

Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 – Parts 2 and 3 deals with parentage matters arising from donor assisted human reproduction.  It is available at http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2015/act/9/enacted/en/html

16. Is donation of sperm/oocytes/embryos anonymous? No. As previously indicated, under the Children and Family Relationships Act gamete and embryo donation is permitted on a non-anonymous basis. Gamete and embryo donors will be required to provide name; place and date of birth; nationality, place and date on which s/he provided the donation; and contact details. Once a donor-conceived child has attained the age of 18 years s/he may request the name, date of birth and contacts details of the relevant donor, as recorded in the National Donor-Conceived Person Register.

Also, the AHR Act 2024 provide for the recording of the details of all parties involved in a surrogacy arrangement in the National Surrogacy Register.

17. Is it possible to obtain information about the biological origin of a child born after gametes of embryo donation? 

i. For the child him or herself                                                    YES/NO

ii. For the parents                                                                    YES/NO

iii. For a court                                                                          YES/NA

In particular:

a. Identity of the donor(s)

i. For the child him or herself                                                    YES/NO

ii. For the parents                                                                    YES/NO

iii. For a court                                                                          YES/NA

            b. Certain health information concerning the donor(s)

i. For the child him or herself                                                    YES/NO

ii. For the parents                                                                    YES/NO

iii. For a court                                                                          YES/NA

            c. Other information

i. For the child him or herself                                                    YES/NO

ii. For the parents                                                                    YES/NO

iii. For a court                                                                          YES/NA

According to the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015, a donor-conceived child who has attained the age of 18 years, or the parent of a donor-conceived child who has not attained the age of 18 years, may request the following information from the Register:

(a) information other than the relevant donor’s name, date of birth and contact details, that is recorded on the Register in respect of the relevant donor; i.e., non-identifying information.

(b) the number of persons who have been born as a result of the use in a donor-assisted human reproduction procedure of a gamete donated by the relevant donor, and the sex and year of birth of each of them.

In addition, the Act provides that, a donor-conceived child who has attained the age of 18 years may request the name, date of birth and contacts details of a relevant donor, i.e., identifying information, as recorded in the Register. The donor must be issued with a notice informing him or her that a request has been made by the donor-conceived child; however, the requested information will be released to the donor-conceived child regardless.

The age limit above which a donor-conceived child can access information will be lowered to 16 once the AHR Act 2024 has been commenced.

18. Is it possible to contest maternity and paternity of children born utilising MAP and under which conditions? Yes 

According to the Irish Constitution, the woman who has given birth to a child is always regarded as the legal mother. This assertion was challenged in the Irish Courts, but it was upheld in the Supreme Court in 2014 in the MR and Anor – v- An tArd Chlaraitheoir & Ors (Surrogacy) case.

According to the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015, the parents of a donor-conceived child are the mother and her husband, civil partner or cohabitant as the case may be. A donor of a gamete or embryo is not regarded as the parent of a donor-conceived child.