A UK trans woman who used her frozen sperm to have a baby with her wife has been granted permission to bring a High Court challenge against the refusal to grant Irish citizenship to her child, on the grounds that she is not recognised as the biological mother.
The woman, who holds Irish citizenship while her wife does not, argues that being forced to identify as the “father” of her child would amount to an “offensive, discriminatory and unjust attack” on her person, gender identity, and legal status, reports Breaking News.
Earlier this week, the High Court granted her leave to challenge the State’s decision not to enter the child on the Foreign Births Register on the basis that she is not the birth mother.
The legal action is being brought on behalf of the child, through the woman, against the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Attorney General, and Ireland, reports Breaking News.
The woman is seeking a declaration that she is both legally and genetically a parent of the child.
She also wants an order requiring the State to register the child on the Foreign Births Register and to grant citizenship under Section 7(1) of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, reports Breaking News.
Under that law, a person born outside Ireland can obtain Irish citizenship if they have an Irish-born grandparent and are registered with the Foreign Births Register, which is maintained by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
In submissions to the High Court, the woman — who was born male — stated that she lives in the UK but holds Irish citizenship through her ancestry, reports Breaking News.
The submissions outlined that she had frozen sperm stored at a UK fertility clinic for future use. She later changed her name and transitioned to female under UK law, receiving a UK gender recognition certificate.
After marrying her female partner, her frozen sperm was used in an IVF procedure at a UK clinic to conceive a child, reports Breaking News.
The woman said she is concerned that any UK withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights could jeopardise her family’s legal protections and status in Britain.
She further submitted that her child was refused entry into the Foreign Births Register — and thereby denied Irish citizenship — because she was not considered the biological mother, and her wife, who gave birth, was not an Irish citizen, reports Breaking News.
According to the woman, the Department of Foreign Affairs informed her that “under Irish law, as applied to date, the mother of the child is the woman who gives birth to the child and therefore the child would derive their citizenship through that mother.”
The department’s position, she said, was that because she is not the biological mother, she does not meet the criteria of being an Irish citizen parent and therefore the application could not proceed, reports Breaking News.
The woman argued that while she could have applied as the “father” to obtain citizenship by descent, doing so would “invalidate me as a trans woman, invalidate my legal status as a woman and invalidate my same-sex marriage.”
She stated that being forced to identify as the “father” would be “an offensive, discriminatory and unjust attack” on her identity, legal status, and on the recognition of same-sex marriage, reports Breaking News.
The woman also submitted that such a requirement would breach the State’s obligation to protect the family as “the natural and fundamental unit group of society.”
Ms Justice Sara Phelan granted leave for judicial review of the case and adjourned the matter until January, reports Breaking News.
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