Mennesson v France · Application 65192/11
European Court of Human Rights · 26 June 2014
Twin girls born in California through a surrogacy arrangement grew up in France with the couple identified as their parents in the United States. French authorities refused to recognise that legal relationship. The family lived together, yet the children’s records told different stories in the two countries.
Why the children had a distinct claim
The judges examined family life and the children’s private life separately under Article 8. The practical obstacles had not prevented the family from living together. But the uncertainty over parentage reached into the children’s personal identity, including their relationship in law with their biological father. The court found a violation of each child’s private life and no violation on the family-life complaint.
Start with the document that was refused
A request to transcribe a birth entry, establish parentage or obtain proof of nationality can involve different authorities and remedies. Identify exactly what was refused, by whom and when. Keep the foreign certificate, any court order and the authority’s written reasons. The 2014 judgment addressed the French legal position then before the court. The current route depends on the family’s circumstances and the law now in force.
Read the court’s English judgment extracts
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