Two long delayed parts of the Child and Family Relationships Act will finally be commenced on 5th May 2020 [1].
The announcement was made in the Dáil by Minister for Health, Simon Harris. The uncommenced sections of the Act regarded the legal parentage of children born to some same-sex couples. The Act became law in April 2015 in time for the same-sex marriage referendum. However, complications prevented its full implementation up to now.
Donation-conception is controversial because it involves a deliberate severing of the natural ties to at least one parent and may also involve deliberately depriving a child of either a mother or a father.
Meanwhile a new group has launched demanding ‘equality’ for children conceived for LGBTQ+ parents via sperm or egg donation [2].
Equality for Children say that many children of LGBT couples in Ireland are denied the right to have both of their parents legally recognised. They want this rectified in law.