Italian lawmakers have enacted a law extending the country’s surrogacy ban to include couples who seek surrogacy services abroad, despite concerns that this move could negatively impact children’s rights.
The bill, endorsed by the Senate, renders Italians seeking surrogacy in foreign countries subject to prosecution upon their return to Italy.
It was driven by the far-right Brothers of Italy party, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who labels herself a “Christian mother” and who won the 2022 elections campaigning on a platform of nationalism and traditional family values.
Families Minister Eugenia Roccella stated that the “ban… positions us at the forefront among nations regarding rights.”
According to legislation from 2004, anyone involved in surrogacy within Italy could face imprisonment for three months to two years and fines ranging from €600,000 to one million euros.
However, until this law, Italians with sufficient financial means had been able to travel to nations where surrogacy is permitted, such as the United States or Canada.
Reports suggest that the overwhelming majority of these individuals have been heterosexual couples unable to conceive children biologically.
Critics have argued that extending the ban to encompass those using surrogates abroad is both impractical and unconstitutional.
Left-wing MP Riccardo Magi described it as a “black day” for “parliament… for rights and for freedoms.”
“The right has criminalized surrogacy for Italian citizens even in countries where it is perfectly legal, regulated, and safe,” he posted on social media.
He remarked that the law “equates childbirth and parenthood with ‘universal crimes’ such as paedophilia and genocide” and pledged that the opposition would “challenge” the law in the Constitutional Court.
“Women’s bodies, wombs, and freedoms belong to women. Not to Giorgia Meloni. Not to this government. Not to any government,” he declared.
This issue reflects a broader, unresolved challenge in Italy, as there is no legislation recognizing the children of same-sex couples.
This legal void leaves these families in a precarious situation, with only the biological parent being listed on birth certificates, compelling the other parent to undergo a lengthy and costly adoption process.
