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surrogacy and adoption

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  • 20-07-2009 3:18pm
    #1
    TravelJunkie
    Registered Users Posts: 438 ✭✭


    I believe if a couple gets someone to surrogate your child (the surrogate has no genetic input - just the carrier), then you have to adopt it?

    My question is- is the adoption process for this easier? ie. do you still have to undergo the assessments for suitability of parenthood, garda checks, etc.?

    thanks,


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    #2
    martinf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 61 ✭✭martinf


    Hi,

    I'm not sure if this will fully answer your question but I believe that surrogacy is a difficult area to get around in Ireland as adoption would be necessary. In order to facilitate a private adoption the law requires the birthmother to be a relation of the adopters. Therefore the surrogate mother would need to be a sister of you or you spouse. In terms of the actual adoption I suspect that the checks might well be the same but the Adoption Board might be the best source of info on that.

    best wishes

    Martin


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    #3
    TravelJunkie
    Registered Users Posts: 438 ✭✭TravelJunkie


    The process of adoption is crazy. It put me off adopting - the hse made it clear that it's very intensive. To think that you'd have to go through it for your own biological child, makes very little sense to me.


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    #4
    martinf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 61 ✭✭martinf


    Hi,

    I'm assuming it's because the surrogate mother's name will actually go down on the birthcert. A somewhat similar situation would occur if a parent ,say mother, remarried after the death of their husband and the couple wanted to have her new husband adopt her child - assuming he was willing of course. In the process of adoption the birth parent would give up all rights as a birth parent and become an adoptive parent. Crazy but true.

    best wishes

    Martin


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    #5
    kathy finn
    Registered Users Posts: 324 ✭✭kathy finn


    correct me if im wrong but i believe surrogacy is illegal in ireland.....kathy


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    #6
    The_Conductor
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 32,285 Mod ✭✭✭✭The_Conductor


    kathy finn wrote: »
    correct me if im wrong but i believe surrogacy is illegal in ireland.....kathy

    I'm not sure whether its illegal or not- but its simply not available. There are several clinics offering surrogacy or eggs abroad- one particular Roumanian clinic pops up on the radar again and again. There is an RTE reporter investigating this at the moment- it may feature on a future episode of Prime Time.


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    #7
    martinf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 61 ✭✭martinf


    Hi,

    I don't think that it's strictly illegal. There was an Irish woman who managed to successfully negotiate the path with the help of a Dublin Fertility clinic according to an article in the Irish Independent last May I think. I'll see if I can track it down. There definitely seems to be a requirement to adopt afterwards and also that the surrogate mother be related to the adopting couple to get around restrictions on a private adoption. To avoid any doubt contact the Adoption Board regarding the procedure for adopting a child that you're related to.

    Best wishes

    Martin


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    #8
    TravelJunkie
    Registered Users Posts: 438 ✭✭TravelJunkie


    martinf wrote: »
    Hi,

    I don't think that it's strictly illegal. There was an Irish woman who managed to successfully negotiate the path with the help of a Dublin Fertility clinic according to an article in the Irish Independent last May I think. I'll see if I can track it down. There definitely seems to be a requirement to adopt afterwards and also that the surrogate mother be related to the adopting couple to get around restrictions on a private adoption. To avoid any doubt contact the Adoption Board regarding the procedure for adopting a child that you're related to.
    Best wishes

    Martin

    This is a good point - but, is the term relevant to the child - or the mother. Ie. do you have to be related to the mother - or is it enough that the child is from your DNA (for lack of a better word) and the birthmother is unrelated.

    Tricky one ... and I don't think the adoption process has a category for this. And I'm not going to make a telephone inquiry! :eek:


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    #9
    martinf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 61 ✭✭martinf


    Hi There,

    There seems to be a requirement that the birthmother be related otherwise you'd probably end up on the same list as everyone else waiting to adopt meaning that a couple who qualified to adopt might have the child placed with them rather than you - regardless of the DNA link. I'm not an expert or even a very well informed source on this however so perhaps a telephone call to Caitriona Palmer who wrote an article on the issue in the Irish Independent in May (search for surrogacy on their website and it's the article about Irish couples facing an uphill struggle). She mentions that a fertility clinic in Dublin was involved in a successful surrogacy case and she might give you the name. They should be able to advise you better.

    best wishes

    Martin


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