Cumulative solutions provided for by Danish law insufficient to make up for the denial of stepchild adoption

EUROPE: PAID-SURROGACY ADOPTION BAN

European Court of Human Rights, judgment, 6 December 2022, K.K. and others v. Denmark (Application no. 2521/21)

"The case K.K. and Others v. Denmark (application no. 25212/21) concerned the refusal to allow the applicant K.K. to adopt the applicants C1 and C2 (twins) as a “stepmother” in Denmark. The twins were born to a surrogate mother in Ukraine who was paid for her service under a contract concluded with K.K. and her partner, the biological father of the children. Under Danish law, adoption was not permitted in cases where payment had been made to the person who had to consent to the adoption.

In today’s Chamber judgment in the case the European Court of Human Rights held that there had been:
unanimously, no violation of Article 8 (right to respect for family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights., finding in particular that there had been no damage to the family life of the applicants, who lived together with the children’s father unproblematically;
unanimously, no violation of Article 8 as regards the mother’s right to respect for her private life as the domestic authorities had been correct in ruling so, in order to protect the public interest in controlling paid surrogacy, over K.K.’s Article 8 rights; and
by 4 votes to 3, a violation of Article 8 as regards the right to respect for the private lives of the two applicant children. The Danish authorities had failed to strike a balance between the interests of the children and the societal interests in limiting the negative effects of commercial surrogacy, in particular as regards their legal situation and legal relationship to K.K."

Direct link to the judgment (hudoc.echr.coe.int)
Direct link to the press release (hudoc.echr.coe.int)

Gender Law Newsletter FRI 2023#1, 01.03.2023 - Newsletter abonnieren