Italian Constitutional Court: "Both Women in Lesbian Couples Recognized as Mothers in IVF Births"

Constitutional Court: "Existing Law Violates Children's Rights... Unconstitutional"
Human Rights Group: "A Historic Ruling That Ends the Humiliating Adoption Process"

The Italian Constitutional Court has ruled that the current law, which does not recognize lesbian couples who give birth via in vitro fertilization as parents, is unconstitutional. This decision is seen as an acknowledgment that legal provisions based on the traditional concept of family have failed to keep pace with social changes.

The Italian Constitutional Court has ruled to recognize same-sex couples as joint parents of their biological children. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

According to ANSA and other local media on May 22 (local time), the Italian Constitutional Court stated that "in the case of children born through assisted reproductive technology, not recognizing both mothers as parents from birth infringes upon the child's right to personal identity."

Under current Italian law, same-sex couples who have a child via in vitro fertilization abroad are not registered as legal parents. Both individuals must go through adoption procedures to be recognized as parents. In reality, this has served as a discriminatory barrier for same-sex couples.

This Constitutional Court ruling was made in response to a request for a constitutional review referred by the court of Lucca in Tuscany. The Lucca court, while reviewing a case in which a lesbian couple requested that both be registered as parents of their child, found that the relevant legal provisions might be unconstitutional and sought a judgment from the Constitutional Court.

The Italian Constitutional Court pointed out that "the current law not only infringes on the child's right to receive care, education, guidance, and moral support from both parents, but also jeopardizes the child's right to maintain meaningful relationships with both families." The court further noted that "the current law does not reflect today's social realities."

Vincenzo Miri, attorney for the same-sex couple and president of the Italian LGBTQ rights organization Rete Lenford, described the decision as "a civilizational ruling that expands the rights of children against a law that has insisted solely on the traditional family model." He called it "a historic decision that means women no longer have to endure a humiliating adoption process in order to have a child with their partner."

However, the Constitutional Court separately ruled that the existing regulation prohibiting single women from accessing assisted reproductive technology is "neither unreasonable nor excessive."

Last year, Italy passed one of the strictest surrogacy bans in Europe. The law criminalizes even traveling to countries where surrogacy is legal to receive surrogacy services. Violators can face up to two years in prison and fines of up to 1 million euros (approximately 1.5 billion won). At the time, The Washington Post commented that "Italy has classified surrogacy as a universal crime, like terrorism or genocide, that transcends borders."

Some analysts noted that the legislation was a measure targeting same-sex couples seeking to become parents via surrogacy, promoted by Italy's far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who emphasizes traditional family values. In Italy, a Catholic country, same-sex couples are prohibited from adopting children both domestically and internationally, making overseas surrogacy the only way for them to have children.