Rome (AP) – Italy's constitutional court ruled Thursday that two women can register as parents of children in a birth certificate, saying that acknowledging parental rights cannot be limited to biological mothers in families of same-sex parents.
LGBTQ+ advocates are pleased with the ruling, and the association’s professional life and family denounce it as “a joke of survival” that will make thousands of children born to same-sex parents.
The court ruled that the city's records unconstitutional, depriving the biological mother and the children recognized by women who agree to receive medical assistance for pregnancy and assume parental responsibilities.
In recent years, some city registrars have begun to record only the names of their biological mothers who have given birth certificates, not the names of her partner. In order to have legal rights and responsibilities for the child, non-biological mothers have to “adopt” the child.
This limited parental recognition was provided by the 2004 law. But the restrictions were re-enforced due to the 2023 circular by the Ministry of the Interior, which was part of the policy of the far-right-led Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to combat surrogacy and promote traditional family values.
The ruling did not address the legality of medically assisted reproduction: Italy has large restrictions on IVF and has banned surrogacy since 2004. Last year, Italy expanded its ban to criminalize Italians who raised their children abroad through surrogacy.
