‘Ghost parents’: Same-sex couples in Italy are losing their rights

France24 | September 14, 2023

Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has demanded local councils only list biological parents on birth certificates. This article features LGTBQ couples who may lose their parentage rights and how it would affect their families.

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Italy’s far-right government is using surrogacy to strip LGBTQ+ Italians of their rights

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government ordered Italian municipalities to stop certifying foreign birth certificates for same-sex couples who had children through surrogacy in other countries, a move that drew condemnation from the European parliament. A number of Pride parades this summer featured challenges to the government’s anti-LGBTQ measures. Meloni’s government continues its attack on the rights of LGBTQ+ Italians by retroactively stripping same-sex parents of their legal connection to their children––including those who formed families using surrogacy.

June/July 2023

Italian parliament approves bill to criminalise surrogacy abroad
Angelia Giuffrida, The Guardian

Italy’s Mounting Attack on Lesbian Parents
Erin Kilbride, Human Rights Watch

Italy according to Giorgia Meloni: no country for non-traditional families
Valérie Gauriat and Davide Lobina, EuroNews

Italy begins stripping lesbian mothers of their parental rights
Molly Sprayregen, LGBTQ Nation

Why gay couples using surrogacy are the latest target for Europe’s far right
John Last, CBC News

How Italy is using surrogacy to erode LGBTQ+ rights
Andrea Carlo, Politico

Italy Wants to Punish Surrogacy With Jail Even If Done Legally
Chiara Albanese, Bloomberg

Rome holds LGBTQ+ Pride parade amid backdrop of Meloni government crackdown on surrogate births
Frances D’Emilio, Yahoo News

Rightwing governor of Lazio region withdraws backing for pride parade
Angelia Giuffrida, The Guardian

March/April 2023

Italy begins stripping lesbian mothers of their parental rights

LGBTQ Nation | July 17, 2023

In conjunction with its attack on the rights of same-sex parents, the Italian government has begun retroactively stripping same-sex parents of their legal connection to their children––including those who formed families using surrogacy.

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Why gay couples using surrogacy are the latest target for Europe’s far right

CBC | July 3, 2023

Italy is not alone in its efforts to ban surrogacy: the anti-surrogacy movement is rapidly gaining momentum among the newly empowered far-right parties throughout Europe, part of their broader effort to disenfranchise LGBTQ families.

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How Italy is using surrogacy to erode LGBTQ+ rights

Politico | June 23, 2023

Italy’s conservative prime minister is using surrogacy as a tool to chip away at the already fragile status of Italy’s LGBTQ+ community.

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Italy Wants to Punish Surrogacy With Jail Even If Done Legally

Bloomberg | June 20, 2023

Italy’s far-right government is attempting to advance legislation to criminalize surrogacy pursued abroad, which would particularly harm LGBTQ families. Couples found guilty of trying to have children through surrogates living overseas would face prison sentences and a fine.

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Far-right Italian Government Seeks to Limit Same-Sex Couples’ Use of Surrogacy

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s recent order to Italian municipalities to stop certifying foreign birth certificates for same-sex couples who had children through surrogacy in other countries has drawn condemnation from the European parliament. These articles explain how Meloni’s crackdown on surrogacy is part of a wider attack on the rights of LGBTQ+ Italians.

Surrogacy Emerges as the Wedge Issue for Italy’s Hard Right by Jason Horowitz, The New York Times

MEPs condemn Italy’s move to stop registering children of same-sex parents by Angelia Giuffrida, The Guardian

Italy enforces ban on recognising same-sex parenthood by Emily Vine, Progress Educational Trust

Italy’s ruling conservative majority wants to criminalize gay couples seeking surrogacy abroad by The Pink Times

Italy enforces ban on recognising same-sex parenthood

Progress Educational Trust | March 27, 2023

A recent order that stops Milan from recognizing same-sex couples as children’s parents is another strategy that Meloni’s government is using to attempt to limit avenues for LGBTQ couples to become parents.

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Italy’s ruling conservative majority wants to criminalize gay couples seeking surrogacy abroad

The Pink Times | March 23, 2023

The Italian ruling conservative coalition is pushing for a new law that would criminalize couples who travel abroad to have a baby via surrogacy. LGTBQ activists have criticized the proposed legislation as a clear attempt to marginalize LGBTQ parents.

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Italians travelling abroad for surrogacy could be criminalised

Progress Educational Trust | February 13, 2023

In Italy, senators close to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have proposed a bill that would fine or imprison Italian couples who seek surrogacy abroad, further reducing the limited options for LGBTQ couples to form families.

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