Italy Has Made It Illegal For Couples To Travel Overseas To Have A Baby Using Surrogacy
The law is supported by the far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party and her conservative allies, who have said that motherhood is "absolutely unique and cannot be surrogated".
Italy has made it illegal for couples to travel overseas to have a baby using surrogacy.
The rainbow families, an association of families with homosexual parents demonstrate in the square Piazza Castello, Torino Italy. (Photo by Mauro Ujetto/NurPhoto)
Surrogacy has been illegal in Italy since 2004, but a new law passed on Wednesday, Oct. 16, now bans people from traveling to other countries for surrogacy.
A man carries a boy on his shoulders during a demonstration by gay rights and civil society groups in Milan. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)
Italians who go to countries like the US or Canada, where surrogacy is legal, could now face up to two years in prison and fines of up to 1 million euros or about 1.1 million US dollars, according to Reuters.
Chiara (R), a 46 year-old Italian woman and her pregnant partner Christine, 42, pose at their appartment in Rome. (Photo by TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images)
The law is supported by the far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party and her conservative allies, who have said that motherhood is "absolutely unique and cannot be surrogated".
The rainbow families, an association of families with homosexual parents demonstrate in the square Piazza Castello, Torino Italy. (Photo by Mauro Ujetto/NurPhoto)
Meloni has openly opposed surrogacy, calling it an “inhuman” practice that treats children like “supermarket products".
Marchers walk with a giant rainbow flag as the LGBT community celebrates Pride in Bologna. (Photo by Awakening/Getty Images)
People have pointed out that the law unfairly targets the LGBTQ community because same-sex couples in Italy are not allowed to adopt children or use IVF.
People in front of Montecitorio holding signs reading: "Parents, Not Criminals" participate in demonstration against the criminalization of Gestation for Others. (Photo by Simona Granati - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
LGBTQ activists and lawmakers also organized widespread protests against the law, holding signs that said, "Parents, not criminals".
Meg Chen
