For queer couples wanting a child in China, surrogacy brings hope and danger

Rest of World | October 10, 2023

According to this article, in China, surrogacy is neither permitted nor prohibited under the law. Chinese LGBTQIA people are turning to online surrogacy services to have children, but censorship of queer content online limits access to reliable information and leaves intended parents vulnerable to scams.

Read the full article ->

‘The state says our kids don’t exist’ – how LGBT life is changing in Italy

BBC News | September 23, 2023

Italy’s far-right government is targeting LGBTQ families by removing parentage rights for families formed via surrogacy. A new law would make surrogacy abroad a crime with hefty fines or prison time.

Read the full article ->

 

Jersey to improve legal rights for same-sex parents: ‘Recognising families as equal’

The Pink News | September 15, 2023

Legislation set to pass later this year in the Channel Island of Jersey would give legal parental status to same-sex couples, including those whose children are born to surrogates. The law is part of a broader effort to solidify same-sex parentage rights.

Read the full article ->

‘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 explores how it would affect their families.

Read the full article ->

Paid Parental Leave and the New Surrogacy Regime in Israel: How do Men Fare?

Harvard Law School Petrie-Flom Center | September 5, 2023

Israel’s assisted reproduction regulations assume a heteronormative understanding of the family, but recent court rulings in the country pave the way for more egalitarian treatment of LGBTQ families that ought to be reflected in the regulations themselves.

Read the full article ->

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

Same-sex couples not eligible for Ireland’s new publicly-funded IVF scheme

GCN | July 25, 2023

Ireland will begin publicly funding IVF in September, but the program excludes same-sex couples and those using donor sperm or eggs. LGBTQ rights and other advocates are critiquing those and other eligibility requirements.

Read the full article ->

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.

Read the full article ->

Anger As UK Police Claim They’re Unable To Prosecute ‘Criminal’ Surrogacy Agency New Life

Pulitzer Center | July 16, 2023

British police say that New Life, an international agency that sells cut-price, offshore surrogacies to infertile and gay couples, has broken the UK’s Surrogacy Arrangements Law, but the authorities claim to be unable to prosecute anyone involved.

Read the full article ->

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.

Read the full article ->