The cross-border legal recognition of parenthood under European law: current law and future prospects

Historically, the issue of who were a child's parents was in most instances settled as it was considered that the nuclear family was the (only) valid family formation and, as such, should be the (only) family configuration that should be protected and recognised under the law. Thus, traditionally there was an overall uniformity in the laws of different European States regarding parenthood-related issues. Although some European States continue to maintain a dividing line between nuclear and alternative families by offering legal recognition and protection only to the former, in other European States the law increasingly gives legal recognition and protection to parenthood in situations where the family does not fit within the nuclear family model. This diversity in the legal regulation of parenthood has given rise to the problem of non-recognition of parenthood: in some instances, parenthood validly established under the laws of one State is not recognised in some other States. The article considers the ways in which European law has responded to this problem to date and concludes that currently there is no comprehensive solution to it. Although recent years have seen a surge in efforts to find such a solution, the chances of this materialising appear grim.