A High Court ruling that has denied access and guardianship rights to a sperm donor father was "anti-child and anti-father", according to the Iona Institute. David Quinn, the director of the Institute, said that Mr Justice John Hedigan's judgment was "badly misguided" and ignores a child's right to be raised by a father where possible. The ruling was also attacked by groups representing unmarried fathers.

Mr Quinn said the child involved has a right to know and to have some measure of contact with his biological father. "Ideally, a child's right to be raised by a mother and father, where possible, should be recognised and upheld," he added.

The man known as "A", who is 41, was a friend of the lesbian couple to whom he donated his sperm. He took a High Court action seeking guardianship of the one-year-old child despite a signed agreement that his relationship with the child would only be that of a "favourite uncle".

Mr Quinn continued: “The fact that the man in this case, known as ‘A’, is a sperm-donor in no way lessens the fact that he is the child’s father and that the child has a right to know his father and to have some measure of contact with his father. This right inheres in the child and it is extraordinary that this should be overlooked at the very time we are considering a children’s rights referendum.”

He continued: “The case highlights a number of issues. The first is the need to regulate the assisted reproduction industry, including IVF, to take proper account of the rights of the child. At the very least there must be an end to anonymous egg and sperm donation”.

Mr Justice Hedigan's ruling held that the lesbian couple constituted a family for the purposes of the European Convention of Human Rights, and that the blood link between the father and the child was “of little weight”. He ruled that the father's attempt to gain access to the child was a breach of the family unit.

Mr Quinn described this minimising of the father’s biological link to his child as “badly misguided”.

He pointed out that many adopted people have suffered considerable hardship from the fact that they could not track down their biological parents. “We now rightly condemn the practice of closed adoption,” Mr Quinn said. “Biology matters a great deal to many adopted people because it goes to the heart of their identity. There are now thousands of donor-conceived adults in exactly this situation, namely trying to find their biological parents but unable to and feeling badly betrayed because of this”.

He added that the issue of unmarried fathers should be more accurately portrayed as “a child’s right to have contact with his or her father. This can be recognised by changing the personal rights section of the Constitution rather than the definition of the family”.

Psychiatrist Prof Patricia Casey said clashes are "inevitable" if the role of fathers, even as sperm donors, were not recognised.

This could have a damaging effect on children as they grow up, she said.

Donnacha Murphy of Unmarried Fathers of Ireland said the case highlighted the absence of fundamental rights for fathers in such circumstances.

The High Court has ruled that a sperm-donor father has no access or guardianship rights to his child. The case involved a sperm donor who was seeking guardianship rights in relation to a child he had fathered on behalf of a lesbian couple. The man had agreed to father the child on the basis that he would have role of "favourite uncle" to the child, and had obtained leave to seek access and guardianship rights in the Supreme Court last year.

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