Italy has made it illegal for couples to seek surrogacy abroad, extending a domestic ban to those traveling to countries where the practice is legal, such as the US or Canada.
Couples who violate the law could face up to two years in prison and fines as high as €1 million (£835,710).
The legislation, introduced by Italy’s far-right governing party, has been criticized for targeting LGBT couples, who are already barred from adopting or using IVF within the country.
Surrogacy, a process where a woman carries a child for another person or couple, is often used by those facing fertility challenges or same-sex male couples.
Italy’s senate passed the law on Wednesday by a vote of 84 to 58.
Ahead of the vote, opponents protested, arguing the law would make it more difficult for people to become parents, despite Italy’s declining birth rate.
“If someone has a baby, they should be given a medal,” LGBT activist Franco Grillini told Reuters. “Here instead you are sent to jail… if you don’t have children in the traditional way.”
He condemned the law as “monstrous,” claiming no other country had such extreme measures.
The move is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s socially conservative agenda. Meloni, Italy’s first female prime minister and leader of the Brothers of Italy party, advocates for traditional family structures, believing children should be raised by a man and a woman.
Known for her opposition to LGBT rights, Meloni’s 2022 campaign slogan included “yes to the natural family, no to the LGBT lobby.”
Meloni has previously described surrogacy as “a symbol of an abominable society that confuses desire with rights and replaces God with money.”
Her deputy, Matteo Salvini, also condemned surrogacy, calling it an “aberration” that treats women like an “ATM.”
The bill’s author, MP Carolina Varchi, denied that the law specifically targets LGBT people, asserting that most who seek surrogacy are heterosexual.
Varchi claimed the law aims to “protect women and their dignity.”
Although experts estimate that 90% of surrogacy cases in Italy involve straight couples, many conceal the fact that they have gone abroad to have a child.
LGBT couples, however, cannot hide their surrogacy arrangements as easily when returning to Italy with children.
LGBT families have expressed fears about the law’s impact on their ability to raise children in Italy.
Source-BBC
