Italy has started removing lesbian mothers' names from the birth certificate of children.
The Italian government started removing the names of “non-biological gay mothers” from their children’s birth certificates under new legislation passed by the “traditional family-first” government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Surrogacy is illegal in Italy, and gay marriage has not been legalized. Because same-sex relationships aren’t recognized in law, the non-biological parent has to make a special case for legally adopting their child.
The measure also stops men in a same-sex relationship from registering the birth of their child with both fathers’ names. Instead, they have to choose one to be the legal father.
The changed birth certificates belong to 33 children of Italian women who underwent artificial insemination abroad and then registered their children under the city’s center-left government, led by Sergio Giordani, in 2017.
The prosecutor’s office in Padua confirmed on Thursday, July 20, 27 mothers had been removed from 27 birth certificates.
Giordani came to power promising to remove the traditional “mother” and “father” designations on birth certificates, but this was overturned when Meloni’s government ordered local authorities to stop registering the children of same-sex parents with both of their names.
The new ruling means that only the biological parent of a child can be named on a birth certificate.
“There is no discrimination against children,” Family Minister Eugenia Roccella told parliament when she introduced the bill in June,
The effect of the move is to limit certain rights for the non-registered parent, and requires them to have permission to carry out everyday family tasks, such as picking the child up from school, or using public services on their behalf.
In March, Meloni’s government also introduced legislation to extend the national ban on surrogacy to couples who use such services abroad. If it passes, anyone breaking the law could face a two-year jail term and a fine of more than $1 million.