Citizenship rights for child of Irish lesbian in UK

Mairiphinc

Hi, I'm wondering if anyone here might have any experience of this situation. I'm British and my partner is Irish, we currently live in the UK but when we eventually get married and have kids we might move back to Dublin jobs allowing. Either way, we would like our kids to be able to have Irish citizenship through her, but I would be the one getting pregnant.

In the UK now both lesbian parents can register legally on the birth certificate but I assume this wouldn't be accepted in Ireland? If we had the children in Ireland they would have the citizenship but she would have no rights to them even if we used her eggs.

Does anyone know if there would be any way for her to adopt them in a way that we are both still parents? Or would Ireland accept her as the mother based on her being on the UK birth certificate? It's so complicated I can't find any information on the net that makes it any clearer!

Thanks!

Annasopra

I would suggest contacting glen and asking them

http://www.glen.ie/

You may even have to contact a solicitor here for legal advice

There is some information here

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/birth_family_relationships/cohabiting_couples/rights_of_same_sex_couples.html

It should also be noted that there are proposals for change in this area in the next year or two

http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/SP12000321

The Programme for Government contains a commitment to reform and modernisation of our family law. One of the great gaps in the Act of 2010 was the failure to specifically address issues relating to parental rights of gay couples and the legal relationship of gay parents to children being parented by them in circumstances in which the parents are parties to a civil partnership or individuals cohabiting in an intimate and committed relationship. I am acutely aware that we need to reform family law to secure equal citizenship for lesbian and gay parents and the best interests of their children. This reforming focus must also ensure that children in lesbian or gay family units are able to form a legal connection with their non-biological parent and that kindred relationships flow from such legal connection. Reforms are also needed in the areas of guardianship, custody and access, and to ensure maintenance and inheritance rights for the children of civil partners. If we are to address these matters comprehensively, we must take account of developments that have occurred in the area of assisted human reproduction that have, for too long, been ignored in our family law legislation. There is a need to provide clarity and legal certainty in relation to the parent/child relationship, and all that flows from it, in the context of children conceived as a result of assisted reproduction or born to a surrogate. There is a need to bring our laws in this area into the 21st Century and to ensure that they reflect the welcome new provisions now contained in Article 42A of the Constitution with regards to the rights of the child and ensuring that in this area the best interests of the child are the paramount consideration. It is not in the best interests of either parents or children that we deny the reality of the complexity of the diverse family relationships that factually exist in the Ireland of 2012. With a view to comprehensively addressing this area of the law, I am presently engaged in the preparation of a Family Relationships and Childrens Bill which I expect will be published next year and, I hope, enacted before the end of the year by the Houses of the Oireachtas.

ene

tbh i dont think that is possible yet in ireland, me and my girlfriend have been trying to look into it but we havent come up with anything positive

Mairiphinc

Thanks all! Looks like I'll have to try and hold the baby in and then pop it out in Belfast to get both citizenships for it!

Lets hope they change the law soon.