Court name: European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section)
State: France
Date of decision:
Legal instruments: European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)
Key aspects: Acquisition of nationality, Birth registration, Childhood statelessness, Respect for private and family life, Surrogacy & reproductive technology
The case concerns the refusal to grant legal recognition in France to parent-child relationships that had been legally established in the United States between children born as a result of surrogacy treatment and the couples who had had the treatment. The Court found that totally prohibiting the establishment of a relationship between a father and his biological children born following surrogacy arrangements abroad was a violation of Article 8 concerning the children’s right to respect for their private life, under Article 8.