This chapter explores the approach of the CJEU and the ECtHR to the highly contentious topic of surrogacy in order to unravel the understanding of motherhood endorsed by these two European courts. It shows that legal motherhood continues to be tied to gestation and birth, thus placing intended mothers in a precarious legal position, especially compared to intended (genetic) fathers. As part of its effort to explain this gender imbalance, the chapter uses the experience of surrogacy as a window for a broader discussion on the gender of legal fictions governing the attribution of parenthood. Whilst the rule mater semper certa est remains one of the most immutable facts of European family laws, legal systems have generally demonstrated a certain flexibility and attention to context in determining legal fatherhood, at times departing from the marital presumption. The chapter argues that this differential attitude reflects a long-standing socio-legal resistance to breaking the continuum gestation-motherhood-caregiving, and aligns with the gendered and higher expectations that legal systems place on mothers compared to fathers.