The genetic mother of twins born through a surrogate pregnancy has defeated the Irish government in a landmark lawsuit and won the right to be declared the mother on the children's birth certificates.

Ireland had refused the woman's demand to be recorded as the twins' mother, citing its 1937 constitution and its view that the woman who gives birth must be recorded legally as the mother.

Dublin High Court Justice Henry Abbott ruled Tuesday that Ireland's laws governing birth certificates and parentage needed to be updated to reflect the growing use of artificial insemination, embryo implantation and other fertility techniques.

The woman, whose identity was shielded by the court, was declared medically unable to carry her own fertilized embryo. Her sister volunteered to serve as the surrogate mother.