Carrying a child for someone else

Surrogacy refers to a practice in which a woman carries a child for another person or couple. It should not be confused with any form of medically assisted reproduction.

The French legal framework

In France, surrogacy agreements are prohibited and void under civil law. The authorization of certain medically assisted reproduction techniques therefore does not permit entering into a surrogacy agreement.

An important distinction

The legal status of a child born abroad through surrogacy raises questions of legal parentage that are distinct from the prohibition of the practice in France. These situations require an individualized legal analysis. For the civic exam, the key point is to distinguish medically assisted reproduction, which is permitted under certain conditions, from surrogacy, agreements for which are prohibited in France.