surrogacy: towards legalisation?

Abstract

Surrogacy today is under an absolute legal ban by means of article 16-7 of the civilcode, resulting from the law of 29 July 1994 and which the revisions of 2006 and2011 have in no way modified. The court of appeal until 2014 ensured the impact ofthis text by refusing to transcribe on the national registers the birth certificates drawn up abroad of children born thanks to a protocol of surrogacy. While a circular of2013, recently validated by the council of State, allows certificates of Frenchnationality to be delivered to these children, France has been condemned by theEuropean court of human rights for infringement of their privacy. These latestdevelopments, which will undoubtedly have consequences for the appeal court’sposition, provide France with an opportunity to re-open a debate which up to now,has had no results.