Not the treatment. Not the pregnancy. The weeks afterwards — abroad, with a newborn, in accommodation you are paying for, waiting on documents, with an employer on the phone and a process whose pace is entirely outside your control.
What Actually Has to Happen
Your child must be able to travel to Ireland lawfully. That typically means establishing a claim to Irish citizenship through a parent — and in a surrogacy case the parent whose citizenship is relied upon is usually the biological father, which makes evidence of the genetic relationship central rather than incidental. Where a passport is not yet available, an emergency travel certificate issued through the Irish embassy or consulate is frequently the mechanism by which a newborn actually flies home, on an application supported by evidence. What is required in practice, and how long it takes, varies with the country of birth, the documents obtainable there and the individual facts — and those requirements and timelines are matters for the Department of Foreign Affairs and the relevant embassy, not something any solicitor should be promising you. The single most useful thing to internalise: plan for weeks, not days. Build it into your finances, your leave, your childcare at home if you have other children, and your expectations. Families who prepare for this phase describe it as demanding. Families who do not describe it as the worst period of their lives.
Start Before the Birth
Everything in this area rewards sequencing, and nothing rewards it more than this. The documentation conversation should happen before the birth — while you are in Ireland, not in a hotel room with a newborn — so that you know what evidence will be needed, what the local documents will look like, what has to be translated or legalised, and roughly what the process involves. Families who arrive at that conversation afterwards lose weeks discovering things that could have been established in advance. Two further points worth carrying. First, the documents that get you home do not resolve the underlying legal position: a passport establishes citizenship and identity, not parentage, and a foreign birth certificate does not make you both legal parents in Ireland. Many families stop doing legal work at the moment they land, which is precisely the moment the rest of it becomes possible. Second, whatever else is happening, keep contact with your surrogate — a future parental order will depend on her consent, and contact details lapse over years.
The homecoming is the beginning of the legal work, not the end of it. Guardianship for the second parent, wills that address the parentage gap, consents and authorities — all of it becomes possible once you are home, and all of it is what most families postpone for years.
Travelling soon, or recently home? 01 5827148.
Richard O’Shea — Solicitor & TEP
Solicitor at Mary Molloy Solicitors (established 1981) and a TEP of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. The firm advises on the legal position of families formed through surrogacy and assisted reproduction — parentage, guardianship, birth registration, travel documentation, and the succession and estate planning consequences that the current gap in the law creates. This is a legal practice: it is not an agency, does not match or introduce surrogates, and takes no part in any commercial arrangement. Consultations by telephone, video or in person. 01 5827148 · richardoshea@marymolloysolicitors.com · LinkedIn
General information, not legal advice. This website contains general information about Irish law relating to surrogacy and assisted human reproduction. It is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor—client relationship. Every family’s position turns on its own facts, and advice on yours requires a consultation.
The law is changing and this page has a date. The position described across this site is stated as at 31 July 2026. The principal surrogacy provisions of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 were not commenced at that date. Commencement orders can be made at short notice and will alter this position materially. Confirm the current position before acting.
This is a legal practice, not an agency. Mary Molloy Solicitors provides legal advice and representation. It does not operate as a surrogacy agency, does not match, introduce or recruit surrogates or intending parents, does not advertise for or on behalf of any surrogate, does not recommend or receive any payment from any clinic, agency or intermediary, and takes no part in arranging or facilitating any payment beyond the provision of legal services. Nothing on this site is an offer or invitation to enter any commercial surrogacy arrangement.
Foreign law and medical matters. Where an arrangement involves another jurisdiction, the law of that jurisdiction applies to what happens there and independent legal advice must be taken locally — nothing here states or implies that any arrangement is lawful or unlawful in any other country. Nothing on this site is medical advice, and questions about treatment, suitability or risk are for your treating clinicians.
Fees. Fees are agreed in writing with the client at the outset. In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.
Tax. Nothing on this website is tax advice. Where parentage affects succession, gift or inheritance treatment, those questions belong with your accountant or tax adviser and with Revenue’s own guidance, and should be addressed before any step is taken.