Denmark has violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights<\/p>\n
The European Court of Human Rights has established this on 6 December 2022 in its judgment K.K. and Others v. Denmark. Denmark has violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights in a case regarding a Danish woman\u2019s stepchild adoption of her husband\u2019s two children born via a surrogate mother in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Partner and Attorney-at-law at Nyborg & R\u00f8rdam Law Firm, Maryla Rytter Wr\u00f3blewski, represented the Danish mother and the two children before the Eastern High Court, the Danish Supreme Court and later The European Court of Human Rights.<\/p>\n
In 2014, the Danish authorities refused to allow stepchild adoption of the two children. The case made it all the way to the Danish Supreme Court, where a unanimous Supreme Court arrived at the decision that the fact that section 15 of the Danish Adoption Act does not include the possibility of having an individual assessment was contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights. However, after an individual assessment, 4 out of 7 judges found that stepchild adoption was not allowed. Subsequently, Attorney-at-law Maryla Rytter Wr\u00f3blewski and her team at Nyborg & R\u00f8rdam brought the case before the European Court of Human Rights. In its judgment of 6 December 2022, the European Court of Human Rights found that Denmark violates its human rights obligations by not legally recognizing a parent-child relationship between the two children and their Danish mother.<\/p>\n
The European Court of Human Rights stated that a child’s interests are paramount in this type of case and found that the Danish authorities had not struck a fair balance between the children’s interests and societal interests in limiting the negative effects of commercial surrogacy. Consequently, this constituted a violation of the two children’s rights under Article 8 of the Convention.<\/p>\n
The judgment K.K. and Others v. Denmark will have major significance for children living in various European countries born by surrogate mothers who have received payment.<\/p>\n