In a landmark appeal
to the Supreme Court, the State has argued
that the Oireachtas should have the power to define legal motherhood.

The State is
appealing an earlier High Court decision which found that twins born through
surrogacy were the children of their genetic, rather than their birth
mother.

According to the
Irish Times, Michael McDowell, Senior Council for the State, argued that
in order to preserve the legal principle of mater semper certa est, it
was essential that the birth mother be initially recognised as the legal mother.

But he also argued
that this could be altered later by legislation.
This would mean the ‘commissioning parents’ no matter what their sex or
biological connection to the child would be recognised as the legal parents.

McDowell
argued that instituting a new legal regime around motherhood is not a job for
the courts nor for private individuals by way of a personal agreement between
them. Rather, he said, it’s a task that falls to the Oireachtas.

“If
someone else is to become the mother it cannot be by a private contract – it
must be by way of a legal process,” McDowell
told the court.

The state’s appeal is designed to facilitate Justice
Minister Alan Shatter’s Family and Relationships Bill 2014, which allows
motherhood to be transferred to the “commissioning parent” from the birth
mother, and defines parenthood as based primarily on intention rather than
either genetics or the birth link.