Surrogacy law in Ireland: Can a single man have sole legal parent rights to a child via surrogacy?

I'm a single hetereosexual man and I would like very much to have a child. Crucially, I need to have sole legal rights in Irish law to raising the child. Under no circumstances can I allow any woman to have a claim to the child/the ability to remove me from my own home as happened in a former relationship. It was significantly more expensive to get out of that relationship in Irish law than it would have been to have surrogate children so financially this seems like a good option, and, critically, one where I would not lose parenting rights to my child.

Can a single man legally do this? If so, what is the smartest way legally to do this? Having an irish surrogate mother seems far too risky as, bizarrely, the surrogate woman in Ireland will still have all the rights to the child (see link below) so going abroad seems the only option. I know there are many countries where a married couple can go for a child, but are there any countries where a single man could have a child with a surrogate mother and then bring the child to Ireland and be the sole legal guardian, etc of that child under Irish law?

This article is very interesting, but as it is only updated until 2022 I'm not sure what the latest is:

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/birth-family-relationships/adoption-and-fostering/surrogacy/

iniscealtra

Apologiesp

Peregrinus

The Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022, mentioned in the page you link to, is still before the Oireachtas. It has not been enacted into law yet, and there is no way of knowing when, or even if, it will be. (But it is more likely to become law than to be abandoned.)

If and when it does become law then it will possible, under a surrogacy arrangement in Ireland that has been approved under the new law, to have a child and then to apply for a "parenting order", making you the sole parent of that child, to the exclusion of the surrogate mother. But you can't apply for a parenting order until at least a month after the child has been born, and the order won't be made unless (a) the surrogate mother agrees, and (b) the court is satisfied that it's in the best interests of the child. So, while you can enter into a surrogacy arrangement intending to apply for a parenting order, you can't know in advance that you will definitely get one.

If you enter into an unapproved or overseas surrogacy arrangement, you won't be able to get a parenting order in Ireland. There might be an order of some kind that you can get in the overseas country, and that might start you down a path that might eventually lead to a guardianship or adoption order in Ireland, but everything will depend on the interaction between the Irish legal regime and the overseas regime, so its impossible to give general advice.

I think the general policy intent may be to discourage Irish people entering into overseas/unapproved surrogacy arrangements; there is a preference for arrangements that are overseen by the Irish authorities and regulated by Irish law. So I wouldn't assume that it would be easy to do what you want to do via an overseas or unapproved arrangement.