Dr Esther Farnós-Amorós
Esther Farnós-Amorós is an Associate Professor of Civil Law (with tenure) at Universitat Pompeu Fabra-UPF (Barcelona), where she obtained her Ph.D. in Law with a thesis on disputes over frozen embryos after divorce (IV Extraordinary Ph.D. in Law Prize, UPF, 2011). During her career, she has conducted research at the Oxford Centre for Family Law and Policy (2005-2006) and Cornell Law School (2007-2008), among other institutions. As a Visiting lecturer in Civil Law, she has been a member of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (2013-2014) and Universitat de Girona (2019-2020).
Her work has mainly dealt with Catalan, Spanish and comparative Family Law, with relevant contributions on the effects of matrimonial property regimes during and after family breakdown, and parenthood, with special attention to parenthood resulting from access to assisted reproductive technology. Beyond family law she has also explored the law of the persons, the law of damages and succession law.
During her career she has been involved in several knowledge transfer activities. The most important have been carried out within the Codification Commission of Catalonia (Justice Department) as a member of its Section on the Law of the Persons and Family (2018-present). Since 2021 she is also a member of the Bioethics Commission of Catalonia and the Euthanasia Commission of Catalonia (Health Department). As a national expert, she has collaborated to several reports and comparative volumes on grounds for divorce (Nuffield Foundation, 2019), surrogacy (Intersentia, 2019; and forthcoming) and parenthood (Elgar, 2025). She is currently a member of a research project being carried out at UPF on self-determination in personal and family law. At UPF she also belongs to a Consolidated Research Group for Patrimonial Law. She is part of the Institute of European and Comparative Private Law at the Universitat de Girona.
Select publications
- Esther FARNÓS AMORÓS, ‘Legal Parenthood in Spain’, in Claire FENTON-GLYNN (Ed.), The Law of Parenthood. A Comparative Guide, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, Cheltenham Glos (UK) – Northampton, MA (USA), 2025, ISBN: 978-1-0353-5390-3, pp. 96-127.
- Esther FARNÓS AMORÓS, ‘Trans children and trans parents in Spain two years after Law 4/2023: an overview’, International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family 39(1), 2025, pp. 1-16 [OA].
- Esther FARNÓS AMORÓS, ‘Daño moral en las relaciones familiares’, in Fernando GÓMEZ-POMAR / Ignacio MARÍN GARCÍA (Eds.), El daño moral y su cuantificación, 3rd ed, Bosch, 2023. ISBN: 978-84-9090-691-0, pp. 531-80.
- Esther FARNÓS AMORÓS, ‘Unmarried Couples and Financial Effects Upon Separation: Approaches from Spanish Law’, European Review of Private Law 31(1), 2023, pp. 170-195.
- Esther FARNÓS AMORÓS, ‘Surrogacy in Spain’, in Jens SCHERPE / Claire FENTON-GLYNN / Terry KAAN (Eds.), Eastern and Western Perspectives on Surrogacy, Intersentia, Cambridge-Antwerp-Chicago, 2019, ISBN: 978-1-78068-652-3, pp. 59-82.
- Esther FARNÓS AMORÓS, ‘Don’t Be Afraid of Biology: Biology-based Parentage Systems and Safety Valves Protecting Social Parenting’, in Maribel GONZÁLEZ / Aida TORRES (Coords.), The Right to Family Life in the European Union, Routledge, 2017. ISBN 9780367075521, pp. 115-29.
- Esther FARNÓS AMORÓS, ‘Monetary Compensation and ‘Selfless Dedication’ to the Family’, in Elena LAUROBA / Esperança GINEBRA (Dirs.) / Jaume TARABAL (Coord.), Régimes matrimoniaux de participation aux acquêts et autres mécanismes participatifs entre époux en Europe, Société de Legislation Comparé, 2016. ISBN: 978-2-36517-058-1, pp. 215-34.
- Esther FARNÓS AMORÓS, Consentimiento a la reproducción asistida. Crisis de pareja y disposición de embriones, Atelier, 2011. ISBN: 978-84-92788-64-4, 301 pp. [OA].
Select awards
- 2025 – Grant of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for stays aimed at senior researchers in foreign centres, to conduct research at the Cambridge Family Law Centre (University of Cambridge) between April and September 2026
- 2019 – XIII Miquel Casals Colldecarrera Prize for a research project on Catalan Civil Law. Awarded project: “Repensar la filiació: velles categories i nous models familiars”
- 2012 – XIV Bioethical Research Prize for the book “Consentimiento a la reproducción asistida. Crisis de pareja y disposición de embriones”, Víctor Grífols i Lucas Foundation
- 2012 – IV Extraordinary Ph.D. in Law Prize for the thesis “Ruptura del projecte parental i disposició dels preembrions”, Law Department, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Further links
https://www.upf.edu/web/esther-farnos
https://www.udg.edu/en/instituts/idpec/linstitut/personal-collaborador
