Any possibility of making Surrogacy in france a reality suffered a significant setback given a ruling by the Cour de Cassation, the country's highest civil court. In 1991, it decided that a woman's decision to conceive, carry, and give up her child at birth—even for charitable reasons—violated the public policy norm of non-availability of both the human body and civil status.
This prohibition was confirmed in the Bioethics Act of 1994 and codified in the Civil Code as a law that is "a matter of public policy," that is, one that the government has enacted in order to safeguard societal norms and from which its citizens are not free to deviate.
What are the efforts made to counter this decision?
The debate over legalizing gestational surrogacy in france has reemerged in recent years for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, there is a rising need for autonomy, especially in terms of personal life decisions.
Infertility in women who have experienced postpartum hemorrhage, cancer surgery, congenital malformations, or exposure to distillbene also continues to be a specific demand. While surrogacy can still be pursued at surrogacy clinic in france, people have to go overseas given the prohibition of the practice in france.
The last option is international surrogacy, which is available in the United States as well as in nations like Georgia and the Ukraine where specialist facilities cater to foreigners. However, it is difficult to prove the filial links when they return to France with children born in this manner.
Today, the majority of French people are in favor of outlawing surrogate motherhood. It is ethically acceptable due to considerations for the kid, the surrogate mother in france, and society at large.
Whats the way forward for surrogacy in France?
Recent court rulings in France show how difficult it is to enforce this law in today's worldwide society. They refuse to recognize or adopt children born to surrogate mothers abroad. The general norm is to respect whatever is done lawfully in other nations, unless it appears to go against core values.
For instance, a divorce that was granted in another nation is often accepted, unless it was the consequence of rejection. In keeping with this pattern, the Cour de Cassation ruled in the Mennesson case in 2008 that the transcript of a child's birth certificate issued to a surrogate mother in California was illegal despite the fact that the child had obtained his birth certificate there and was a US citizen.
Then a case involving a same-sex couple traveling to India for surrogacy came up. The biological father had signed a statement of paternity, and the "mother" had an Indian name. However, the court once more declined to register the birth certificate, citing the fact that French nationals were unable to travel abroad to avoid French surrogacy rules.
Of course, the Cour de Cassation considered what was in those kids' best interests. The child's filiation was not recognized in France since he had a foreign birth certificate, but he was nonetheless allowed to live in France with his parents and enjoyed the same rights to education and healthcare as other foreign children.
The judges' de facto acceptance of a surrogacy carried out outside of France would have been in conflict with the country's severe ban on surrogacy in France. Furthermore, if the best interests of the kid were to take precedence, child abduction and trading would very well be acceptable in some extreme cases, rendering other international conventions—like The Hague Convention on Adoption—inapplicable and out-of-date.
Summing it up
Regardless of whether you connect with a surrogacy clinic in France or else, you may not be able to pursue surrogacy in this country, given the legal ramifications. Still, you can always opt for other alternative destinations like Ukraine, Georgia, Kenya and so on.