The Government should prioritise the legalisation of surrogacy in this country so couples who have struggled to have a baby no longer need to travel abroad to access the service, a leading international campaigner on surrogacy has said. Sam Everingham, founder of the Growing Families charity, says the legal uncertainty around surrogacy in Ireland should be “urgently addressed” and called for assisted human reproduction legislation to be introduced. However, he warned that forcing couples to go abroad for surrogacy was “no longer sustainable”“For Ireland, Ukraine is huge for surrogacy, it’s probably the most popular destination for heterosexual couples in Ireland. But Ukraine does not confer Ukrainian citizenship on these babies so they remain stateless until they have Irish citizenship. They say the clinic in Ukraine was extremely professional and that they are “forever grateful” to the team for baby Luke.

Source: The Irish Times May 17, 2020 11:48 UTC