Ricerc@Sapienza

Surrogate motherhood is one of today’s controversial issues. It is debatable whether or not surrogacy is consistent with human rights. Consequently, State reactions to surrogacy range widely. People from countries where surrogacy is banned or strictly regulated have been increasingly resorting to surrogate motherhood abroad. Hence the question about the continuity of the family status created abroad through surrogacy. Also the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has dealt with that problem, mainly in the Mennesson, Labassee, and Paradiso et Campanelli cases.

This article investigates the scope and contents of CEDAW Art. 16, 1, g), which is the only provision within the international legal landscape to refer to the right to choose a family name. Originally, this provision was conceived by the drafters narrowly, to mean the freedom of the wife to keep her family (maiden) name in her personal and social life. The monitoring practice of the CmEDAW has subsequently widened the scope and contents of this provision, to cover the equal rights of the mother and of the father to pass their family name on their children.