Legal briefing: Statelessness and the right to respect for private and family life October 2024 guide decisions concerning them and be a consideration in their right to acquire nationality.113 The ECtHR followed a similar reasoning in the recent judgment of D.B. and Others v. Switzerland concerning a same-sex couple.114 The relevant domestic law did not afford the child the possibility to recognise the parent-children relationship. For over seven years, it was impossible to obtain recognition of the relationship between the child and the first applicant and there were no alternative means of recognising this relationship. Moreover, because of the non-recognition of the parent-child relationship with the first applicant, the child was in legal uncertainty with regard to his second nationality (American). The ECtHR concluded that this amounted to a disproportionate interference with the child’s right to respect for private life and did not serve the child’s best interests, insofar as it may place the child in legal uncertainty about their identity in society and deprive them of the possibility of living and developing in a stable environment.115 Building on this jurisprudence, in C v. Italy, the ECtHR reiterated that States must offer a possibility to recognise the parent-child relationship between a child born through gestational surrogacy abroad and their intended biological father.116 The case concerns the Italian authorities’ refusal to transcribe the Ukrainian birth certificate of the applicant, who was born through surrogacy in Ukraine. The Court acknowledged that there was an interference with the applicant’s right to private and family life by depriving the legal parent-child relationship with her biological father, causing prolonged legal uncertainty and rendering her stateless. The Court noted that while the nature of the procedure to recognise this relationship remains within the margin of appreciation of each State, the procedure shall (i) be focused on the best interest of the child and exempt from excessive formalism and (ii) ensure the active cooperation of the system to indicate to the parties the best solution available to them in such jurisdiction, independent of the actual request submitted by the parties.117 In this case, the Court held that by not offering an alternative procedure to recognise the parent-child relationship with her biological father, the Italian authorities failed in their positive obligation to guarantee the applicant’s right to respect for her private life. The Court ruled that there was no violation regarding the parent-child relationship with the intended mother, based on the availability of an adoption procedure under Italian law, which would legally recognise this relationship. The Court determined that this situation fell within the acceptable margin of appreciation.118 113 ECtHR, Mennesson v. France (application no. 65192/11), 26 June 2014, paragraph 100. See also ECtHR, Labassee v. France (application no. 65941/11), 26 June 2014. 114 ECtHR, D.B. and Others v. Switzerland (applications nos. 58817/15 et 58252/15), 22 November 2022. See also ECtHR, Press release, 22 November 2022; and Nikos Koumoutzis, D.B. and Others v. Switzerland: Tracing the Origins of the Right to Recognition of Same-Sex Parentage in International Surrogacy, Strasbourg Observers, 23 December 2022. 115 ECtHR, D.B. and Others v. Switzerland (applications nos. 58817/15 et 58252/15), 22 November 2022, paragraphs 8790. 116 ECtHR, C v. Italy (application no. 47196/21), 31 August 2023, paragraph 56. 117 ECtHR, C v. Italy (application no. 47196/21), 31 August 2023, paragraph 68. 118 ECtHR, C v. Italy (application no. 47196/21), 31 August 2023, paragraphs 75-79. 21