Request for an Inheritance Certificate from Turkish Courts for a Child Born through Surrogacy: An Examination from the Perspective of International Private Law

Development summary

This article addresses a child born through surrogacy seeking a certificate of inheritance from Turkish courts and examines how the parentage link should be treated as a preliminary question in cases with a foreign element. After comparing the lex fori and lex causae approaches, the authors conclude that such a request should not be refused on public policy grounds and that the judge should assess each case flexibly, taking account of the best interests of the child and equitable principles in private international law. The article also states that the competent court for issuing the certificate should be identified under Article 40 of the Turkish Private International Law Act in conjunction with Article 384 of the Turkish Code of Civil Procedure.