France's top court orders full recognition of foreign surrogacy parentage
The Cour de cassation ruled on 3 July that foreign court decisions establishing parentage for children born via surrogacy must be recognised in France, provided they meet certain guarantees. The decision ends a long legal battle for a French couple with three children born in Canada.
The ruling
France's highest court, the Cour de cassation, ruled on Friday 3 July that a foreign court decision establishing parentage between intended parents and a child born via surrogacy (GPA) must be recognised in France if it "presents a certain number of guarantees". The plenary assembly, the court's most solemn formation, stated that the French ban on surrogacy alone cannot justify refusal, given the best interest of the child.
Given the best interest of the child, the French ban on surrogacy does not, by itself, allow refusing this recognition.
The ruling confirms a line of jurisprudence from the court's first civil chamber, which had already validated the principle under conditions in two 2024 decisions. By issuing the decision in plenary assembly, the court elevated it to a principle-setting precedent.
A family's long wait
The case centred on Laurent Papaix and David Toto, a French same-sex couple who moved to Canada in 2004. They had three children via surrogacy: Gaspard in 2011, and twins Tristan and Adèle in 2013. Each man provided gametes for one of the two pregnancies, making one the biological father in each case and the other the intended parent. They sought exequatur (recognition) of Canadian court orders naming them as the children's fathers.
- Birth of Gaspard via surrogacy in Canada.
- Birth of twins Tristan and Adèle via surrogacy.
- Paris Court of Appeal grants exequatur, treating recognition as adoption.
- Cour de cassation rules parentage must be recognised as such, not as adoption.
In June 2024, the Paris Court of Appeal granted exequatur but specified that the Canadian decisions would produce the effects of an adoption in France. The public prosecutor appealed, arguing that full recognition would violate France's surrogacy ban. The Cour de cassation overturned that ruling and decided the case itself, granting exequatur and ordering that the parentage be recognised "as such" in France, not as an adoption.
Legal shift
The decision marks a further step in the evolution of French jurisprudence on surrogacy. For years, France refused to recognise or establish parentage between children born via surrogacy abroad and their intended parents, leading to condemnation by the European Court of Human Rights. The 2024 rulings began to open the door, and the 3 July decision now makes clear that foreign parentage orders must be given full effect, not downgraded to adoption.
Broader impact
Between 200 and 500 French couples resort to surrogacy abroad each year, according to a parliamentary report. The ruling directly affects those families, ensuring that children's legal ties to both parents are recognised without the need for adoption proceedings. The court stressed that the foreign decision must offer sufficient guarantees, leaving room for case-by-case assessment but establishing a clear principle in favour of recognition.
