While there is no law prohibiting single people from availing of assisted reproduction techniques in the Republic, clinics here do not supply services to women who are not in a relationship.
Fertility clinics contacted by The Irish Times confirm that in the absence of legislation they turn away single women seeking assisted pregnancies, either because of their own policy or because of guidelines laid down by the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. The institute's guidelines state that "the service should be available to married couples or couples in a stable relationship" despite the fact that a similar stipulation was removed from the Irish Medical Council document on ethics some years ago.
Spokespersons for three fertility clinics say their services are available exclusively to heterosexual couples who have been in a relationship for two years or more. Tony Walsh, medical director of the Sims Clinic in Dublin, which does not provide the service to single women, says Irish equality law may be tested at some point if Irish legislation does not clarify the situation in the near future.
"If one looks at it from the point of view of an individual's right to access services, a situation where a single person has to travel to the UK to achieve pregnancy could be seen as discriminatory," he says. "It's certainly an area that would benefit from debate."
The co-ordinator of the Morehampton Clinic in Dublin, Mary McNeaney, says services such as artificial donor insemination are currently only offered for medical reasons. She says she is looking forward to the findings of the National Commission on Human Assisted Reproduction being published - its report should be given to Minister for Health Mary Harney this month - so the situation could be clarified.
"I would like any resulting legislation to be quite open," she replies when asked whether she thinks single and homosexual people should be given access to services they are currently denied. "I would say yes with a certain amount of hesitation. I think in the case where there is a shortage of donor sperm, couples who have no other alternative should be given priority".
Fertility clinics in Northern Ireland are regulated by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in the UK and the main clinics in Belfast - the Origin Fertility Clinic and the Regional Fertility Clinic - both offer their services to single women. HFEA guidelines say that the child's welfare, including the "right to a father", must be taken into account but this is open to interpretation and many clinics in the UK assess single women for suitability for assisted reproduction techniques.
Helen Browne, who began working with the Republic's National Infertility Support and Information Group nine years ago, says she has never in that time received a call from a single woman but if she did, the group would offer advice about options in other countries.
"It is not their fault they haven't met someone with whom to have a child," comments Browne. "While I believe the ideal family environment in which to bring up a child is with a heterosexual couple, there are many children being reared by lone and widowed parents who are being brought up in secure and loving homes. We would have no problem referring single and homosexual people to organisations in the UK which can meet their needs."
The National Infertility Support and Information Group's helpline is 1890 647 444
