French Ministry of Justice Directs Public Officials to Register Foreign Surrogacy Judgments

On 9 April 2025, the French Ministry of Justice issued instructions for the public prosecutors of Nantes and Rennes, who are responsible of the French central status registry, to register parentage as resulting from foreign surrogacies.

The instruction expressly relies on the judgments of the Cour de cassation of October 2024 and November 2024 which both ruled that foreign surrogacy judgments were to be recognised in France.

The instruction mandates French status registries to indicate on the birth entry of the child the parents as established by the foreign decision. The instruction expressly states that the entry should indicate the parents even if they both are men or if one is a woman who did not give birth to the child.

A lawyer for some of the couples who obtained those decisions has indicated on social media that some prosecutors resisted the implementation of the judgments of the Cour de cassation in civil status registries. The goal of the instruction seems to be overcome this resistance.

Is Exequatur Necessary?

The instruction only refers to foreign decisions declared enforceable in France by a French court through exequatur proceedings. This is the procedural path that had been chosen by the lawyers who sought to implement the foreign surrogacy jugdments in these cases.

The reference to exequatur in the instruction is surprising, however, as exequatur is only necessary for enforcing foreign decisions. In contrast, the recognition of decisions which only establish a new status for the parties (for instance, establish a parentage relationship) produce effect in France without any prior judicial procedure. French courts have long held that seeking registration on civil status registries does not amount to enforcing the foreign decision and thus does not require the foreign decision to be declared enforceable (though it does not hurt if it is).

Acceptance of Recognition of Foreign Surrogacies

The instruction also demonstrates that the Ministry of Justice and the executive branch are fine with the liberal stance taken by the Cour de cassation in recent months and indeed ready to give it full effect.

The recent judgments of the French supreme court have attracted strong criticisms by a number of French academics. Leading French scholars have expressly called the court to overrule its decisions, in particular the most recent one which ruled that foreign surrogacy judgments do not violate French public policy. One of the arguments put forward by those academics was that the French lawmaker had expressed its will to forbid surrogacy, and that the judgments would amount to de facto abrogating these provisions.

The instruction signals that the executive branch is not as shocked as these scholars. The most important effect of the instruction might be to reinforce the Cour de cassation in its liberal policy and acceptance of foreign surrogacies.