Legal victory for surrogate mum

Published on 06/03/2013 01:36

The genetic mother of twins born through a surrogate pregnancy has defeated the Irish government in a landmark lawsuit and won the right to be declared the mother on the children’s birth certificates.

Ireland had refused the woman’s demand to be recorded as the twins’ mother, citing its 1937 constitution and its view that the woman who gives birth must be recorded as the mother.

Dublin High Court Justice Henry Abbott ruled yesterday that Ireland’s laws needed to be updated to reflect the growing use of artificial insemination, and other fertility techniques.