Most Irish surrogacy is international, and the reason is structural rather than cultural. Domestic arrangements have had no framework, no approval body, no register and no route to parentage — so those that happen tend to be between people who already know each other well, entered into on trust rather than on paper.
Altruistic Only — and What That Will Mean
The 2024 Act is built on the prohibition of commercial surrogacy. A surrogate may not be paid for being a surrogate: the arrangement must be altruistic, with permitted payments confined to her reasonable expenses and legal fees. Commentators have observed that this is drawn tightly — appearing to prohibit payments to third parties other than legal professionals — and have questioned whether it will leave domestic arrangements practically workable at all. That is not a reason for despair, but it is a reason for precision: what counts as a reasonable expense, and what falls outside the permitted categories, is exactly the question to take advice on before money moves rather than after. Alongside the payment rules the Act sets the rest of the scheme: gestational surrogacy only (the surrogate’s own egg is not used), a genetic link to at least one intending parent, mandatory counselling, independent legal advice for the surrogate and the intending parents, AHRRA pre-approval before treatment, and a parental order at the end. Every one of those is a condition, and an arrangement that misses one will not qualify for the statutory route however sincerely it was made.
Making an Arrangement Before Commencement
People do, and the risks should be stated plainly rather than glossed. Today there is no approval process to complete and no parental order to obtain, so when the child is born the surrogate is the legal mother, and the intending parents’ position rests on a declaration of parentage for the biological parent and guardianship for the other. Separately — and this is the point most often missed — an arrangement made now will not carry AHRRA pre-approval, because that machinery is not operating; once commenced, the statutory route requires it, and whether a past arrangement can be recognised is the subject of Part 12, itself not commenced. So what should a domestic arrangement have in place today? A properly drafted agreement with each side independently advised — not because it is enforceable, because it is not, but because it forces the hard conversations early and evidences that consent was real and informed. Clarity on the genetic position. Real care about payments. A plan for birth registration and the applications that follow. And wills on both sides, drafted with the parentage position addressed explicitly — the step every family postpones and the one most likely to matter without warning.
A Domestic Arrangement Being Discussed?
The valuable conversation happens before anything is agreed - the genetic position, the payment boundaries, the separate advice each side needs, and what the Act will require if it commences mid-journey.
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