Commentary on Sections Part 2:  Parenthood in Cases Involving Assisted Reproduction Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995
244.Paragraph 71 amends Article 5 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 to provide that a mother and a second female parent who are civil partners shall have parental responsibility for a child born through assisted conception. Where the second female parent of a child is not the civil partner of the child’s mother that person shall have parental responsibility for the child if she has acquired it under Article 7 of the 1995 Order.
245.Paragraph 72 amends Article 7 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 to provide for the means whereby a second female parent under section 43 of a child conceived through assisted conception who does not become a civil partner of the child's mother, acquires parental responsibility; if she is registered as a parent of that child, or makes a parental responsibility agreement with the child's mother, or is given parental responsibility by a court.
246.Paragraph 73 replaces a reference in Article 8(4)(g) of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 to section 30 of the 1990 Act (which is repealed by the Act) with a reference to section 54 (parental orders) of the Act.
247.
	Paragraph 74 amends Article 12 of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and provides for a court which makes a residence order in favour of a second female parent of a child conceived through assisted conception to also give parental responsibility to that parent.
248.Paragraph 75 amends Article 155(3) of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 to include as legitimate someone conceived through assisted conception at a time when their mother was in a civil partnership, or who was born at a time when their mother was in a civil partnership, or whose mother and second female parent were civil partners at any time between the treatment and the child’s birth. The amendment takes account of civil partnerships which are void.
249.Paragraph 77 amends Schedule 1 to the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 so that references to a child's father can be read as including references to a child's second female parent.
250.Paragraph 78 amends paragraph 1 of Schedule 6 to the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, in relation to succession in cases of intestacy where parents are not married to each other, so that references to “father” include a second female parent.