🧬 Fertility treatment and surrogacy: what to check

Before you start

1. 1. What to prepare

   Before treatment, confirm access, consent, donor information, funding and legal parentage. Before surrogacy, obtain independent specialist advice in every relevant jurisdiction.

2. 2. What to check

   Do not assume an overseas contract or birth certificate guarantees local parentage, citizenship, passports or entry. Plan these before paying or travelling.

3. 3. In Ireland

   Ask your GP about a regional fertility hub. Public funding has access criteria distinct from private treatment: HSE guidance excludes treatment needing donor sperm or eggs. Do not equate public-funding exclusion with a general legal ban for single or same-sex parents.

4. 4. In Ireland

   The Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 must not be treated as fully operational merely because enacted. Current Citizens Information guidance describes surrogacy as unregulated and intended parents as not automatically having full parental rights. Obtain specialist Irish advice on commencement, parentage, guardianship and overseas documents before arranging treatment.

5. 5. In Ireland

   Use the Civil Registration Service to register the birth. For unmarried parents, current rules require the mother to provide the father’s contact details unless an applicable exception applies; check the registrar’s process. Birth registration does not itself settle guardianship. Donor-conceived registration has a separate process.

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