A less spoken yet big topic in Italy is the "uterus for rent" ("utero in affitto"). While most media talks about the woman role, it actually goes both ways.

The explanation under the following spoiler is potentially NSFW, yet I will try to write it in the least sensitive way possible

This is an illegal practice in Italy.

It consists in a person paying another person from the opposite sex so a child can be born between the two, but raised by only the payer. Used in the case where the actual couple cannot make a child on their own (so, in the case of same-sex unions or general infertility). The person who got payed would then disappear.

The block of the birth certificates is going against this practice.

[–] cloaker@kbin.social 13 points 1 year ago (4 children)

The simple solution would be to regulate surrogacy which is normal. This also affects LGBTQ still.

[–] SSUPII@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I looked online, and looks like surrogacy is the actual term of this. Yes, surrogacy is illegal in Italy and of course it affects LGBTQ+ couples too.

Said in another comment that I don't understand the problem when it's regulated and done in a safe environment, instead of illegally with a massive list of risks both medically and legally.

[–] cloaker@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My first question is how does this affect adopted children, and then second; why does the government not regulate surrogacy instead of just banning it.

[–] SSUPII@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Depends what do you mean with adopted. A children adopted due to abandonment or loss of parents will still have the original parents in the certificate.

If you mean adopted at birth after the practice or similars, their birth certificate is invalid as you have read. In this case a child not having a valid birth certificate means having an invalid Italian citizenship meaning a legal risk for the parents and unability for legal access for institutions and documents, like creating a passport. This is a massive problem as a partner in surrogacy might be unreachable as done illegally, and they would need to sign the new birth certificate and state that child as their own. It also means only the registered member of the actual couple will show as a parent, and there are a lot of context where both registered parents are needed for signing.

Recap:

Invalid documents, until the donator shows up
The donator must become present in the child's life due to multiple documents needing signing from both registered parents
Only one member of the actual couple will be able to present themself as parent. It would make it illegal for the non-registered person to even pick up their child from school unless a extra permit is written.

Surrogacy has been banned in Italy in 2003 with a claim it promoted child-trafficking and prostitution. Currently, the law is defended by many right-wing parties (extremely powerful in Italy) claiming living without a biological mother or father is a violation of human rights for the child. At the moment, surrogacy is punished via a nasty fine (up to €1m) or jail time up to 2 years. The current government wants to expand this punishment also to Italian couple that had this practice outside of Italian soil. On a side note, same-sex marriage is also banned in Italy.

[–] elmicha@feddit.de 2 points 1 year ago

Note that surrogacy is illegal in many countries of Europe (sorry for the German page, I couldn't find the image in English Wikipedia).

load more comments (1 replies)

load more comments (6 replies)