Italy - July 2023

The state prosecutor in Padua ordered the removal of non-gestational mothers from the birth certificates of 33 children to lesbian couples. The order is retroactive, applying to parents who, since 2017, have had children abroad via surrogacy and have registered them in Padua. The ‘unofficial’ parent, now a legal stranger to the child, needs the authorisation of the legal parent to pick up the child from school, make medical decisions on its behalf and has no influence on the child’s future if the legal parent were to pass away. The decision leaves hundreds of families in legal limbo and according to Human Rights Watch affects the right to create a family, enshrined in multiple international legal frameworks ratified by Italy. Such retroactive orders are feared to spread to other regions of Italy, as part of a wider trend of restricting same-sex couples rights led by Giorgia Meloni’s government. A court is expected to rule on the decision in autumn.

Sources: Cable News Network, L'Espresso, International IDEA, Human Rights Watch