In two  judgments on June 26, 2014, a chamber of the European Court of Human Rights held that French laws, denying legal recognition to parent-child relationships legally established in the United States between French parents and children born through surrogacy, violated the children’s right under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights to respect for their private life. Noting that member countries have a wide “margin of appreciation” in determining laws related to surrogacy, the chamber rejected the parents’ claims, but concluded that the situation was non consistent with the fundamental importance of protecting children’s best interests. The judgments are only available in French, but the court’s reasoning is described in a press release available here. The cases are Mennesson v. France (app. no. 65192/11) and Labassee v. France (app. no. 65941/11).