The loss of interest (of the child) when born by surrogate motherhood

Development summary

Lorena Sales Pallarés considers the divergence between the courts and the DGRN over registering the filiation of children born through surrogacy in Spain. She argues that the legal contradictions generated by assisted reproduction are particularly acute in surrogacy and that inadequate regulation compromises the child’s best interests. After the Supreme Court closed off registration, it identified adoption as a means of protecting children’s interests; subsequent decisions, however, do not suggest that adoption is the quickest or most appropriate route, and the article considers options including recognition out of complacency and attenuated public policy.