By LifeSiteNews (Politics) | Created at 2026-08-10 15:31:21 | Updated at 2026-08-10 15:51:09
19 minutes ago
Mon Aug 10, 2026 - 11:31 am EDT
(LifeSiteNews) – Ireland is offering 26 weeks’ paid maternity leave to “pregnant men.”
Irish health officials have announced that “pregnant men,” i.e., women who identify as male, can claim maternity leave benefits.
As Gript reported, the new guidelines from the government-run Health Service Executive (HSE) stipulate that “transgender” employees who are legally recognized as male are entitled to 26 weeks of maternity leave if they become pregnant or give birth. They may also claim a further 16 weeks of unpaid maternity leave immediately after that.
“Since 2023, transgender men who are pregnant or have given birth can access maternity leave,” the guidance states.
Women who wish to qualify for the benefits must hold a gender recognition certificate under Ireland’s 2015 Gender Recognition Act, which allows females to change their legal gender to male.
As Nick Hallett from the European Conservative noted, “[t]he policy lays bare a striking contradiction in Ireland’s gender laws. The state officially records the employee as a man while granting maternity rights based on the uniquely female realities of pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.”
Another HSE document published in June confirms that so-called “transgender men who have given birth can access statutory maternity leave.”
The document noted that the law protects “pregnant employees,” those who have recently given birth, or those who are breastfeeding, without acknowledging that all three groups must necessarily be female.
HSE employees who qualify for maternity leave will receive their basic salary and fixed allowances during the 26-week period, minus any maternity benefits paid out by the government. They are also entitled to breastfeeding breaks after returning to work.
However, the document returns to normal sex-based language in later parts when it states that maternity leave can transfer to “the father” if “the mother” dies during childbirth, revealing the linguistic confusion caused by gender ideology.
Due to the absurd legal framework, a woman in Ireland can be legally recognized as male while also giving birth and breastfeeding.
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