From the Irish Times:
Gay sperm donor given access to his son
MARY CAROLAN
LEGAL JUDGMENT: THE SUPREME Court has unanimously ruled that the gay friend of a lesbian couple who donated his sperm to one of them so she could have a child is entitled to access to the three-year-old boy but not guardianship.
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It was a “critical factor” the child has lived with his mother and her partner since birth and they are a couple since 1996, taking loving care of the child in a settled environment, Mrs Justice Susan Denham said.
Mr Justice Hugh Geoghegan said access should be limited and a 2005 agreement under which the man was to have the status of a “favourite uncle”, while enforceable only to the extent it protected the child’s welfare, was sensible. Any closer connection, unless it had complete agreement, was likely to be “wholly disruptive” and against the child’s interests.
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The Supreme Court also found the lesbian couple and child are not a family under the Constitution and ruled the High Court erred in finding they are a “de facto family” entitled to invoke family rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The Constitution has been interpreted by the courts as defining the family as based on the marriage of a man and woman and there is no institution here of a “de facto family”, it said.
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Mr Justice Fennelly said changes in the ECHR jurisprudence were to be expected and national legislation “might also address these difficult problems”. The mother’s partner has no legally or constitutionally recognisable family relationship with the child, he noted. The court was delivering reserved judgments allowing the appeal by the man against the High Court’s refusal of access but rejecting his appeal against the refusal of guardianship. The matter will go back to the High Court to determine access issues unless the sides reach agreement on access.
Full Article here:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1211/1224260512642.html
Equality group voices concern at Supreme Court decision
REACTION: THE GAY and Lesbian Equality Network (Glen) said it was very concerned by the Supreme Court decision which “rejects a same-sex headed family as a de facto family”.
Glen director Brian Sheehan said the judgment highlighted “the importance and urgency of providing legal support and recognition” of the many children being parented by same-sex couples in Ireland, which he said should form part of the Civil Partnership Bill which is moving through the Dáil.
“Providing a legal framework for parenting, with the welfare of children the paramount guiding principle, will also help clarify obligations and responsibilities from the outset,” he said.
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The decision was welcomed by the Iona Institute, whose director, David Quinn, said: “This decision respects the rights of both fathers and children. A biological father has a right to know and have access to his child, and a child has a right to know and have access to his or her biological father.”
Full Article here:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1211/1224260512650.html
Boy’s birth followed complex search for suitable donor
BACKGROUND: THE LITTLE boy at the heart of the case was born in 2006 as a result of a sperm donation, following various efforts over three years by the mother to conceive.
The mother, referred to as P, has lived with another woman since 1996 and they entered into a civil union in London in 2006.
Having decided they wished to have a child, the couple in 2003 signed an agreement with JC, a gay friend of theirs who lived abroad, for him to be a sperm donor. It specified that any child would remain with the couple but would have knowledge of the biological father, who would adopt the role of favourite uncle.
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After the child was born, the couple claimed the man became intrusive. They became fearful after he sought to see the child once a month and described himself as “a father”. The parties’ relationship deteriorated. The High Court described the relationship between the man and the child’s mother as “poisonous” and between him and the other woman as one of “armed neutrality”.
Full Article Here:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1211/1224260512614.html
Gay-lesbian dispute over child raises legal issues
ANALYSIS: A Supreme Court judgment yesterday clarified issues relating to rights of same-sex couples and their children under Irish law, writes CAROL COULTER
THE DISPUTE between a sperm donor and the lesbian couple who had his child, which led to yesterday’s Supreme Court judgment, raises a number of new issues in Irish law which to date have not been addressed by the legislature.
Among them are the legal position of the donors of genetic material in assisted human reproduction; the legal status of non-biological parents who choose to raise a child in a non-conventional relationship; and the rights of a child with regard to his or her biological parents when they are not married to each other.
These issues have been under consideration for at least a decade, since the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction was set up, reporting in 2005. Its report has been with the Department of Health and Children since.
The Civil Partnership Bill at present before the Oireachtas is silent on the issue of the status of children being raised by same-sex couples, whatever their biological relationship to one of them. Meanwhile, the Law Reform Commission has reported on Legal Aspects of Family Relationships, with recommendations on the rights of non-marital fathers. There are no indications from the Government on what will happen to these recommendations.
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The four judges who gave written judgments were unanimous in finding that the father was entitled to apply for guardianship and access, though, as in all cases involving non-marital fathers under Irish law at present, he would not be granted it automatically. The welfare of the child was paramount, and this was the yardstick against which the application would be considered.
The case arose out of a situation where the lesbian couple, who were in a long-term committed relationship, decided they wanted to have a child with the aid of a sperm donor. They decided it would be better for the child if the sperm donor was known to them and the child, and had a relationship with the child, who would know this was his or her biological father.
They drew up an agreement with the father, in this case specifying the nature of the relationship between him and the child, including the fact that the couple would parent the child, while he would occupy the role of “favourite uncle”. He would have no financial or other obligations towards the child, and his contact with the child would be by agreement with the couple.
Full Article Here:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/1211/1224260511577.html
From the Independent:
Gay sperm donor wins the right to see biological son
A LANDMARK legal ruling in a which a sperm donor has secured access to his son is unlikely to lead to increased rights for unmarried fathers, according to legal experts.
Yesterday the Supreme Court ruled that a 41-year old gay man, whose biological son is being raised by two lesbians, can have access to his three-year-old child.
In a unanimous judgment, the five-judge court ruled that while the man was not entitled to guardianship, he had natural rights over the boy.
But the court said there was no institution of a ‘de facto’ family under the Irish Constitution, dashing the hopes of thousands of heterosexual, same-sex and other non-marital family units raising children.
“The status quo remains,” said family law expert Geoffrey Shannon, who is the Government’s rapporteur on child protection.
“Although the ruling has boosted birth fathers’ rights, it has reinforced the constitutional exclusivity of the family based on marriage.”
Full Article Here:
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/gay-sperm-donor-wins-the-right-to-see-biological-son-1971195.html
From the Irish Examiner:
Gay sperm donor granted access to child
A GAY man who donated his sperm to a lesbian couple who wanted a baby has been granted access to the three-year-old boy, but not guardianship by the Supreme Court.
The little boy at the heart of the case was born in 2006 as a result of a sperm donation, following various efforts over three years by the mother to conceive.
This landmark case was taken by a 42-year-old gay man, identified only as ‘A’. The couple, who took part in a civil union ceremony in England some years ago, were not in court.
Read more: http://examiner.ie/ireland/gay-sperm-donor-granted-access-to-child-107627.html#ixzz0ZNOzMvNZ
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