Lesbian mothers win legal status in Italy IVF rulingLink to Full ArticleCNN News - Story by Reuters
Published 7:51 AM EDT, Thu May 22, 2025
Italy's Constitutional Court said on Thursday that same-sex female couples who use in vitro fertilization (IVF) abroad can both be legally recognized as parents in Italy, even if one is not the biological mother.
The ruling is likely to be welcomed by Italian LGBT groups who have repeatedly clashed with the conservative government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a self-declared enemy of what she and her allies call the "LGBT lobby."
The court found that denying legal recognition to the non-biological mother violates the constitutional principles of equality and personal identity and violates the child's rights to care, education and emotional continuity from both parents.
The decision strikes down part of a 2004 law which did not allow both women in a same-sex couple to be registered as legal mothers, even if both consented to the procedure.
The ruling did not alter Italy's current restrictions on access to IVF, which is still limited to heterosexual couples, but marked a shift towards the recognition of LGBTQ parenting rights.
In a separate verdict, the Constitutional Court said rules preventing single women from accessing IVF were not unconstitutional, but said they could be changed if a political will for it emerged in parliament.-----------------------------------
