Filiation, surrogacy, and private international law: Spanish Supreme Court Ruling 277/2022 in light of the doctrine of the European Court of Human Rights

Abstract

The Supreme Court admits the claim of biological paternity and the adoption file as suitable procedures for the recognition of the filiation derived from a surrogacy carried out abroad, at the same time that it denies its recognition when it has been claimed through the application of the transcript of the foreign registry certificate or by possession of state. This doctrine is compatible with the case of law of the European Court of Human Rights, which obliges States to recognize the filiation derived from surrogacy when there is a genetic link between the minor and the intended parents, as well as to protect the best interests of the minor, when there is family life. This jurisprudential doctrine seeks to protect the rights of the surrogate mother and the best interests of the minor; however, effective protection of both can only come from a private international law agreement that regulates the requirements for the recognition of filiation by those States that deny validity to surrogacy contracts, so that human rights and the best interests of the minor are guaranteed.