Italy’s ban on surrogacy travel will restrict parenthood for LGBT people. How does Europe compare?

Euronews ^ | 17/10/2024 | Gabriela Galvin

[nickcarraway]

The new Italian law restricting overseas travel for surrogacy services goes further than other countries, but same-sex couples face family planning hurdles across Europe.

A new law that bans Italians from travelling abroad for surrogate pregnancies is expected to make it harder for LGBTQ people to become parents – but Italy is far from the only country where family planning is a challenge for same-sex couples.

Italy’s restrictive approach to surrogacy isn’t new – or unique. Many European countries ban surrogacy outright, while others have strict rules about citizenship, payment, and relationship status.

Those rules have prompted some couples to travel elsewhere for surrogacy arrangements, which is when a woman carries and gives birth to a baby on behalf of another person or a couple.

For example, France – where surrogacy is illegal across the board – tried to dissuade people from travelling for surrogacy services by refusing to register the parenthood of a couple whose children were born via surrogate in the United States, but the decision was struck down by the European courts in 2014.

But the new Italian law, which extends a ban on surrogacy put in place in 2004, is thought to go further than any other country so far.

Advocates said it would protect women from exploitation, while critics said it would unfairly impact same-sex couples, particularly gay men.

“Even though the law will affect everyone, the debates have clearly shown how the aim is to continue to grow the chilling effect on the Italian LGBTI community,” Katrin Hugendubel, advocacy director at ILGA-Europe, told Euronews Health.

Where in Europe is surrogacy legal?

That could lead to greater social stigma and legal uncertainty for these families, she added, pointing to the Italian government’s order for regions to stop registering same-sex parents’ children last year.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Fertility Europe, an umbrella group for patient organisations, warned that a “lack of good regulations or legal bans don't make the need for surrogacy disappear but push intended parents to seek alternatives that are often risky and raise ethical reservations”.

Beyond Italy’s efforts, though, countries across Europe have restrictions on adoption, fertility treatments, and surrogacy for same-sex couples – if their relationships are even legally recognised in the first place.

The map below shows how European countries stack up on family planning policies for LGBTQ people and same-sex couples.

LGBTQ people can legally apply for joint adoption in 23 countries, meaning two non-biological parents become the child’s legal parents, according to an analysis from ILGA-Europe.

Meanwhile, fertility treatments using artificial insemination are available for single people in 26 countries and couples in 17 countries, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, the analysis found.

In some parts of Europe “it's not possible to show in the public space that you have a same-sex partner ... it can be very dangerous for the people,” Dr Meryam Schouler-Ocak, a psychiatrist at the Psychiatric University Clinic of Charite at St. Hedwig Hospital Berlin and chair of the European Institute of Women’s Health, told Euronews Health.

“It depends on the legislation, but also public opinion, tradition, and religious issues. The spectrum is very broad,” she added.

[No name given]

Good for Italy 🇮🇹. Now if only the rest of Europe would follow suit.

[Skywise]

Oh no...

Anyway...

[Third Person]

what a shame

[goodnesswins]

“Do you hear yourself?” To echo JD Vance...re: to the people who think this is a problem...sheesh.

[I want the USA back]

Same sex couples can pretend to become parents, but they are delusional. Surrogacy is not parenting.
Surrogate “motherhood” is an illusion.
Good for Italy.

[No name given]

Too bad.

[Racketeer]

Why does current society want to change the norms of human behavior? How does the young child feel being raised without a father and mother? If we were naturally inclined to be attracted to people of the same sex as our own, mankind would have ended long ago, after one generation, don’t ya think?

[aquila48]

“Why does current society want to change the norms of human behavior? “

It’s called “Life, Liberty and THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS”.

So is there a limit in the pursuit of one’s happiness?

[marktwain]

So is there a limit in the pursuit of one’s happiness?

Of course there is a limit. If your pursuit of happiness is at the expense of others, it is limited.

You are not allowed to torture other people for your pleasure.

You are not allowed to kill other people for your pleasure.

You are not allowed to destroy innocent children's lives for your pleasure.

Obviously, the problem of raising children, parental rights, and protecting children can involve highly controversial trade-offs.

But, it is clear there are limits to a person's pursuit of happiness.

[SaveFerris]

[Why does current society want to change the norms of human behavior?]

Satan sows confusion. It is necessary for people to accept delusional thinking for Satan to deploy his Antichrist.

God will then finish their delusional thinking by sending them Strong Delusion and they will accept the Antichrist.

Then, they will go forward to betray Tribulation Saints who will be beheaded for refusing the Mark of the Beast on their Right Hand or Forehead.

Those who accept the Mark of the Beast in their Right Hand or Forehead will be destined for the Lake of Fire for all of Eternity - there is no possibility of Repentance once one accepts the Mark of the Beast.

[SaveFerris]

[LGBTQ people]

--------------------------------

Genesis 19:27-28 KJV

27 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord:

28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+19%3A27-28&version=KJV



(new version)

[Krosan]

Selling babies is illegal in Europe. Here’s the map - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrogacy_laws_by_country - dark blue means selling babies is legal.

It’s legal in some US states and in Russia and China and some other countries, but not in the EU.

[Krosan]

Not China. Sorry for my mistake.

[fwdude]

“...same-sex couples face family planning hurdles across Europe.”

Gee, I wonder why that is? Such a mystery.

[fwdude]

It seems that at some point they would figure out the problem.

[Racketeer]

I wonder how happy a child really is with 2 mothers or two daddies? I have to laugh out loud at the mindsets who try to defy historical records regarding such behavior.