  The degenerate de Gennes-Cahn-Hilliard (dGCH) equation is a model for phase
separation which may more closely approximate surface diffusion than others in
the limit when the thickness of the transition layer approaches zero. As a
first step to understand the limiting behavior, in this paper we study the
$\Gamma$--limit of the dGCH energy. We find that its $\Gamma$--limit is a
constant multiple of the interface area, where the constant is determined by
the de Gennes coefficient together with the double well potential. In contrast,
the transition layer profile is solely determined by the double well potential.
