The parentage gap is discussed in terms of statutes and commencement orders. It is experienced as a form on a clipboard, a question at a reception desk, and a moment of having to explain your own family to a stranger while your child listens.
Where It Actually Bites
Medical treatment is the sharpest, because it can arrive without warning and at the worst moment: who can consent to treatment for a child, and whether the person present has authority to do so. School is the most frequent: enrolment forms asking for parents, permission slips, consent for trips, and the question of who is entitled to receive information about a child’s progress or to make decisions about their education. Travel raises it at borders and check-in desks, where an adult travelling with a child bearing a different surname and no evident legal relationship can be asked to explain. And any dealing with a State agency or institution can surface it. In each case the underlying question is the same — does this adult have authority in respect of this child — and a parent with no legal status has a poor answer, however obviously they are the child’s parent in every other sense. The cumulative effect is not just administrative. Families describe the wearing experience of having to justify themselves repeatedly, and of doing it in front of the child.
What Actually Helps
Guardianship, first and above everything. It is the single measure that changes the answer at the hospital desk and on the school form, because it confers a say in exactly these decisions — education, medical treatment, passport consent. It is available under existing law, it does not wait for the Act, and it should be pursued the moment the route is open. The route depends on the facts, so establishing which applies and from when is the first step. Beyond that, three practical things make a real difference. Written consents and authorities, prepared in advance and properly drafted, so that a parent without status has something to produce rather than an explanation to give. Knowing what you will show before you are asked — carrying the documents, knowing which one answers which question, and not improvising at a desk. And telling institutions once, properly, in advance: a school informed at enrolment, with the position explained and the documents on file, handles the next three years very differently from one that discovers it on a Tuesday morning during a medical emergency.
The one that matters most is invisible. All of the above concerns daily authority. The consequence that cannot be repaired later is succession — and no amount of good arrangements with a school addresses it. If you do one thing after reading this, make the will.
Sorting guardianship and the documents around it: 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.