Surrogacy ruling inappropriate according to the government

CramCycle

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0203/501954-surrogacy/

Why are the Irish government fighting this? I'd understand legislation for more specificity or a fight to have it reworded to protect the mother but they seem to be fighting to have the mother declared not the mother despite it being the wishes of everyone involved.

What am I missing?

Mikros

Initially I was thinking the same - what was the point of fighting it?

But there are some implications to the original high court ruling - is motherhood now defined by genetics or by the act of actually giving birth to a child?

Existing children born to mothers who used a donor egg could now have their maternal line in question if the high court judgement is to be applied across the board. I believe the State's argument is that it is a very important question for society and given the lack of any legislation to the contrary the existing definition of motherhood, that is the person giving birth, should stand. A private arrangement between individuals cannot outweigh this common understanding.

I think on a human level there is no argument - it is a private matter between the people involved - but it is clear that our constitutional, legal and societal rules and values have not always kept up with the advancements in modern fertility treatments. Hard cases make bad law, so it will be interesting to see the outcome.

LoonyLovegood

Surrogacy is a hot button topic at the moment in many jurisdictions, not just our own. The problem is, they're mixing two areas of law which, traditionally, were kept very far apart. If you side with the contract, then you're saying that family law is less important. If you side with the surrogate, then you're saying that contract law is less important.

Honestly, I think it should be the genetic mother. You're leaving it very open to interpretation if you say the surrogate is the mother of the child(ren).