Italy - May 2025

On 22 May, Italy’s Constitutional Court ruled that same-sex female couples who had IVF abroad can both be legally recognized as parents, partially overturning a 2004 law, which limits access to medically assisted reproduction only to heterosexual couples facing infertility. The Court said denying recognition to the non-biological mother violates constitutional principles of equality, personal identity, and the child’s right to both parents. However, the ruling, stemming from a case by a lesbian couple in Lucca, did not change Italy’s IVF restrictions, which remain limited to heterosexual couples. A separate ruling on the same day allowed gay parents to legally adopt children born via surrogacy abroad, if the child was born before a 2024 law that criminalized surrogacy. The Court ruled that the law does not apply retroactively to children born before its enactment.

Sources: Euractiv, Pagina 12, Corriere della Sera, International IDEA