| | | You are here: Home >> Press Section >> Gay couple spend €100k to have a surrogate baby | | | | Gay couple spend €100k to have a surrogate baby | | By Eva Marie Gibney, Irish Daily Mail | | | | | | A GAY couple are to pay e100,000 to father a child in the U.S. through a surrogate mother. The Irish men hope to use a donor egg – then find a surrogate to carry their embryo. But they are having to go to the U.S. to become parents, as there are no proper laws governing surrogacy or granting them legal protection here. | | | | Yesterday, Dublin solicitor Marion Campbell, who is giving legal advice to the couple, said the entire process from signing on to delivery of the baby will cost them a six-figure sum. ‘One of them will be the biological parent and they will use a donor’s egg to conceive the embryo. ‘They told me they expect to pay around the e100,000 mark because that’s how expensive it can be for gay couples in the U.S..’ | | | | The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, are now in the process of signing up the Circle Surrogacy agency, in Boston, to help them find a suitable surrogate mother. This agency, headed by lawyer John Weltman, its co-founder, has helped a dozen couples from Ireland become parents through surrogacy over the past decade. The couple had already travelled to see Mr Weltman when they contacted Ms. Campbell for legal advice, and were hopeful that they would find a surrogate mother soon. She said: ‘I have been getting so many enquiries from Irish couples, both gay and heterosexual, because I include surrogacy as one of my practice areas on my website, that I really started to look into this.’ | | | Under Irish law, if a couple decided to use a surrogate mother here, they would have to adopt the child. However, private adoptions here are restricted to the relatives of the mother. Referring to the gay couple, Ms. Campbell said: ‘As far as I know that wasn’t an option for them. They are from the country so obviously there is the element of publicity attached to it, and that may also be a reason affecting their decision.’ More and more Irish couples are
travelling abroad to have a family as there is no specific law or protections governing the process here, should complications arise, the lawyer explained. | | | | ‘Adoption in Russia and Vietnam has closed up because of their noncompliance with the Hague Convention, so more and more Irish couples are looking at surrogacy as an option.’ The Hague Convention deals with international adoption and child trafficking. It became effective in Ireland from 1995 and sets the rights and pro- | | | | tection of the child at the heart of any legal case. Ms. Campbell explained that the three main countries where Irish couples have been successful in using surrogate services are the Ukraine, India and the U.S. Many who want to be parents choose the expensive and heavily legalised U.S. route as some have encountered difficulties taking a baby out of the country or obtaining a passport in the other two countries. | | | | Ms. Campbell said: ‘In the Ukraine, it is proving very difficult to get a passport for the child. ‘Even though the commissioned parents’ names legally go on the child’s birth certificate, Irish authorities often want declarations of parentage to also be produced, so it can get very complicated.’ In the past, couples wishing to find a surrogate mother have looked to the UK where surrogacy births are more common. However, in 2005 a law change regarding adoption in the UK prevented non-UK residents from adopting a child who has been born in the UK through surrogacy. | | | | The Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction concluded in 2005 that surrogacy should be permitted, subject to regulation, but as yet nothing has been done. Mr Weltman said that the entire process in the U.S. can take an average of 12 to 15 months, from finding a suitable mother to the delivery of the baby. It can cost in the range of €52,000-€89,000 or more, depending on various factors, including whether the couple is using its own embryos or donor eggs. The agency has a 98 per cent success rate, he said. And all its surrogates are carefully screened. | | | | Couples’ names must appear on the child’s birth certificate to ensure the surrogacy is legal, so typically it is done in U.S. states such as Arkansas, Massachusetts and California, where the surrogacy contract is recognised, and where a court order can be granted that stipulates the parents’ names will go on the birth certificate. Mr Weltman will be in Dublin to give a talk to parents on May 18 and also to address the first Family Lawyers Association seminar on surrogacy, which has been organised by Ms. Campbell and will be chaired by Judge Henry Abbott. Ms. Campbell said that 40 couples have already signed up for that seminar. | | | | Eight years ago, Dublin couple John McMahon and Gerard Whelan became the fathers of triplets. The children’s births came about with the help of Anita Brush, a surrogate mother, from California, already a mother of 11. The three had met through Growing Generations, which is a Los Angelesbased agency that is dedicated exclusively to helping gay and lesbian couples to have children. The triplets, two boys, Max and Tom, and a girl, Connie, were born in California. Then the children were brought home to the Southside of Dublin. | | | | |  For further information, please contact Marion Campbell Solicitors by calling (01) 475 9345, or by filling out an on-line enquiry form. |
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