Dear Sir,
Today, the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill of 2022 passes through its Report and Final Stages in the Dáil. The Bill seeks to regulate fertility treatments like IVF and sperm and egg donation, however, it alarmingly suggests hat domestic “altruistic” surrogacy and international commercial surrogate arrangements should be legalised.
Speaking as a young lesbian, the idea that glaringly dangerous and exploitative surrogacy practices are not decisively addressed in this proposed legislation horrifies me. This oversight, I believe, stems from an unbalanced consultation process during which the conception of the Bill was biased in favour of surrogacy. This bias was particularly evident during joint committee phases, where accusations of homophobia were recurrent.
The idea that the commercialisation of women and babies is somehow a “gay rights” issue is deeply troubling. In project these debates as disagreements over “anti-LGBTQIA+” sentiment’s is misleading and damaging. As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, I am painfully attuned to the battles and disappointments experienced by the community in our pursuit of equal rights and acknowledgment, particularly in starting families.
French President Macron has warned of the risks of far-right extremism during his trip to Germany.
The idea that the quest for equality can be used as justification for the monetisation of surrogacy is, in my opinion, inappropriate and harmful. Same-sex couples, by the nature of their sexuality, cannot bear biological offspring.
Surrogacy, specifically the commercial variant, continues to be a divisive global issue with many nations choosing to ban or heavily regulate it in response to the proven risks of exploitation and commodification of women, not to mention the potential threats to vulnerable women.
Using gay rights as a vehicle to promote a practice internationally banned is a disservice to the positive progress made by lesbian and gay activists in Ireland over the years.
Several LBGTQ+ and pro-gay rights groups have championed for more permissiveness in the proposed bill, arguing that same-sex couples should have the right to commission a surrogate. However, I must protest that not all gay people think we have the right to exploit womanhood for personal ambitions to start a family or to commercialise childbirth.
We must not allow authentic gay rights advocacy to be hijacked to promote practices which spark serious ethical and moral debates, exploit women overseas or cultivate an environment where children become a tradeable commodity.
Is it not a matter of concern for the general populace, inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community, that authentic challenges faced by gay individuals are manipulated to support new laws and silence any critics? This issue came to the fore during discussions concerning the proposed “Hate Speech” Bill.
Surrogacy is not regarded as a fundamental human right, irrespective of one’s sexual orientation. Thus, why the attempt to utilize our sexual preferences as leverage to foster laws that not everyone may be in agreement with?
It is worth noting, not every gay individual condones the commercialisation of women’s physiques and infants. Similarly, not all are in agreement with our community functioning as an implement to propagate ethically questionable laws. We also oppose allegations of homophobia used as a tactic to suppress objections against surrogacy.
We refuse to be exploited as a protective barrier or tool in political disputes. – Yours faithfully,
Annaig Birdy,
Representing a sector of the Gay Community,
Dublin.