This conference, organised by Cambridge Family Law together with the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Family Law, explored a range of issues and challenges surrounding the law and practice of national and international surrogacy from a practical perspective. Practitioners, lawmakers, academics and other participants will discuss the legal consequences of the rise in surrogacy arrangements and, in particular, reproductive tourism.

For more information about the conference see:

https://www.family.law.cam.ac.uk/research-and-eventspast-events/international-surrogacy-forum-2019

This recording is from Part I – The Prohibitive Approach, with Caroline Mécary (Avocate aux barreaux de Paris et du Québec, Paris/France) as commentator.

Caroline Mecary is an attorney, member of the Bar of Paris since 1991. In 1993, she established her own law firm devoted to all sorts of families’ rights.

She was the first French attorney to defend homoparental families. In this field, she obtained some great success before both national and international courts such as the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Hence, she allowed a lesbian to have the right to adopt (ECHR, 22 January 2008, E.B c/ France). She enabled children resulting for a surrogacy to have their birth certificate transcribed by the French registry office (ECHR, 21 July 2016, Foulon & Bouvet c/ France; ECHR, 19 July 2017, Laborie c/ France). She also obtained the right for a same-sex couple to enter in a civil partnership (ECHR, 7 November 2013, Vallianatos c/ Greece).