You are choosing an adviser in an area where the law is unsettled, the stakes are your family, and the emotional pressure to hear good news is enormous. These five questions are worth more than any credential list.
1. Who Else Do You Act For? — 2. What Will You Not Do?
The first question is the diagnostic one. Does the firm have any relationship with agencies, clinics or intermediaries — referral arrangements, commissions, reciprocal recommendations, anything? Does it match or introduce surrogates? Does it receive any payment from anyone other than its own client? A solicitor whose commercial interests are entangled with the arrangement cannot give you candid advice about whether that arrangement is a good idea, and the pressure runs entirely one way. You want an adviser with nothing riding on which route you choose. The second follows from it: ask what they would advise against, and what they would decline to do. A firm that can readily explain the situations in which it would tell you not to proceed — an arrangement outside what the Act provides for, a payment structure that creates problems, a jurisdiction whose documentation will not support an Irish application — is a firm doing the job. One that meets every proposal with enthusiasm is selling something.
3. What Is the Law Today? — 4. Who Advises the Surrogate? — 5. What About the Wills?
Ask them to state the current position precisely, including what is and is not commenced. If you are told that the 2024 Act “now regulates surrogacy in Ireland” without the qualification that its principal surrogacy provisions are not commenced, you have learned something important. The answer should include a date, because this area changes. Ask who will advise the surrogate. The only acceptable answer is: her own solicitor, independently, free to advise her not to proceed. Any suggestion that one firm can look after everyone’s interests is a serious warning sign about the whole arrangement. And ask what they will do about your wills. This is the question that separates advisers who understand the area from those who know the headlines — because succession is the one consequence of the parentage gap that cannot be repaired afterwards, and an adviser who does not raise it unprompted has not thought the problem through to its end.
One thing worth ignoring: confident predictions about commencement. Nobody knows, several indicated dates have already passed, and an adviser who tells you it will happen by a particular date is guessing with your family’s planning.
Happy to answer all five before anyone commits to anything: 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.