A bill to radically alter birth certificates is set for a record quick passage through the Oireachtas if the Minister shepherding the legislation has her way.  The bill, which has yet to be named, would enable two women to be recorded as the parents of a child on the child’s birth cert. It would also allow others to the use of the term ‘parent’ instead of either ‘mother’ or ‘father’. This means a birth certificate would no longer always be a record of the progenitors of a child—its birth mother, and father, where known—but would instead sometimes record the name of one who ‘intends’ to parent the child.

The bill received cabinet approval last week and Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty has said she hopes to publish it next week. Speaking to the journal.ie, she said she hopes it can avoid pre-legislative scrutiny and proceed to the Dáil and the Seanad in a couple of weeks.

Doherty said it is her understanding that she has cross-party support for the Bill, and she sees no reason why the Bill could not pass speedily. She added that while it is unusual, she thinks all stages of the Bill could be heard in one sitting, if opposition parties agree.