On Tuesday, 18 September, the Paris Court of Appeal granted the plenary—not simple—adoption application filed by the partner of the biological father of twins born through surrogacy in Canada in 2011.
In upholding the rulings delivered in November 2016 by the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris, the Court decided to grant plenary adoption “which is irrevocable and breaks the ties of parentage between the biological family and the child” unlike simple adoption which “does not erase the child’s origins”.
The Paris Court of Appeal considered that the adoption request, “creating‘family ties’ between the biological father’s partner and the girls”, was“in the children’s interests” and that the surrogate mother who had relinquished any parenting rights and was not named on the birth certificates, which list only the biological father, “was not required to give her consent”.
The lawyer for both men, Maître Mecary, stated that, “since the mother is not named on the birth certificates, […] legally she does not exist”.
The association Juristes pour l’Enfance (French Legal Association for the Rights of the Child) laments the fact that “justice is failing to act as guarantor of the rights of all, and of children in particular” and “is condoning this abuse imposed on the children”. It asserts that, in its decision, the Court of Appeal “is validating a process that has deliberately deprived the children of their mother to make them ‘adoptable’ since only one parent has been identified, namely the father”.
Involved in surrogacy-related procedures, on Friday, the Court of Cassation must examine “two separate requests for recognition under French law of the birth certificates of the children born through surrogacy abroad”.
Le Figaro, Yohan Blavignat (20/09/2018) – Juristes pour l’enfance, Communiqué de presse (19/09/2018)