In Italy, a lesbian couple has been unable to register the birth of their baby at the public records office. Chiara Foglietta, a municipal councillor for the city of Turin, gave birth to Niccolo Pietro on 13 April 2018 following artificial insemination in a Danish fertility clinic last year.
Although Italian law legalised civil unions for same-sex couples in 2016, the latter are not permitted to access fertility treatment. In Italy, the screening or freezing of embryos, gamete donation and surrogacy are authorised only for heterosexual couples with clinically diagnosed infertility.
Furthermore, Italian registry offices “have no guideline to specify that artificial insemination has taken place”, explained Chiara Foglietta. The local authorities refuse to recognise the fact that neither woman had sexual relations with a man to become pregnant.
Bionews, Dr Loredana Gugliemi (23/04/2018) ; Newsweek, Damien Sharkov (19/04/2018)