Italië

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Italy did not violate the rights of a couple by removing a child they were caring for as a result of a surrogacy agreement made in Russia. The facts of the case differed from other surrogacy cases that have come before the ECHR, in that the child was not biologically related to either of the intended parents bringing the case. After attempting unsuccessfully to have a child, the couple had approached a Russian surrogacy agency. The couple claimed that they provided the husband’s semen to the clinic and, after in vitro fertilisation, two embryos were implanted into a surrogate mother’s womb. After returning to Italy with the child born as a result and attempting to register the birth, Italian prosecutors launched criminal proceedings against the couple for allegedly misrepresenting their relationship with the child. During the investigation, it emerged that the child was not biologically related to the couple and the child was removed from their care. The child was initially placed in a children’s home followed by foster care and at the time of the case, was going through the adoption procedure.

The case was solely an application on behalf of the intended parents, as the court found that as they had not been caring for the child for two years by the point the case reached the ECHR, they did not have authority to act on behalf of the child. Nonetheless, the court did place emphasis on the best interests of the child in reaching its decision, but accepted that “the Italian courts, having assessed that the child would not suffer grave or irreparable harm from the separation, struck a fair balance between the different interests at stake, while remaining within the wide margin of appreciation available to them in this case.” The case overturns a judgment from 2015 and could have serious consequences for children born of surrogacy when it is prohibited by the home country of the intended parents.

Bron: Nieuwsbrief CRIN (Childs Rights International Network)

Twin boys born to a same-sex couple through surrogacy do not have the legal status of brothers, an Italian court has ruled. The fathers – who both provided sperm – have, however, each been allowed to become the legal parent of their own biological child. The boys were born in California, where surrogacy is legal. But when their fathers brought them back to Italy a registry office clerk in Milan refused to grant their birth certificates because making or advertising surrogacy arrangements is illegal under Italian law. This effectively denied the children Italian nationality and their fathers’ parental rights, leading the fathers to sue the civil registry. The couple’s request was originally denied but upheld on appeal. Despite recognising each father as the legal parent of their own child, the twins cannot be recognised as the couple’s children and their fathers could not adopt each other’s son as same-sex couples cannot adopt in Italy. For more on this issue, read the special edition CRINmail on surrogacy and children’s rights.

Bron: Nieuwsbrief CRIN (Childs Rights International Network)

Italy – Family EVERY Day

Dear Member and Friends, Many of your probably know that in Italy debate has been heating up on whether or not to approve civil unions legislation for same-sex couples, including […]

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