In Italy, the parliament made it illegal for couples to go abroad to have a baby via surrogacy, an effort that is meant to target same-sex partners. Voting 84:58, the Senate voted the bill into law, with the Lower House approving their version last year.
The country’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s party, called Brothers of Italy, took control of the government in 2022, and has been pursuing extremely conservative policies to promote the so-called “traditional family values”.
There is actually a surrogacy ban in place in Italy since 2004, which does not allow going to countries such as the US or Canada, where it is legal, to avail of surrogacy services. Vilators can be jailed for up to two years, and fined up to €1 million ($1.1 million). The new law expands this ban.
Speaking during the parliamentary debate, extremist Brothers of Italy senator Lavinia Mennuni was quoyed as saying: “Motherhood is absolutely unique, it absolutely cannot be surrogated, and it is the foundation of our civilization… We want to uproot the phenomenon of surrogacy tourism.”
Italy’s birth rates have been falling, with national statistics institute ISTAT claiming in March that births had dropped to a record low in 2023, marking the 15th consecutive annual decline.
