The Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI)
on Thursday entered Italy's heated debate about surrogacy and
the rights of same-sex-parent families, with a statement saying
children must never be considered "products".
Surrogacy is already illegal in Italy but Premier Giorgia
Meloni's right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party has tabled a
bill that would make it a "universal crime", meaning that
Italians could be prosecuted for using the practice in foreign
States where it is legal.
Many Italian same-sex couples have had children via surrogacy
outside the country.
Surrogacy became a hot topic after Milan was recently forced to
stop a procedure it had used to register both members of a
same-sex couple as the parents of a child after the prefect's
department warned it was illegal following consultations with
the interior ministry.
The procedure was based on the transcription into the Milan
civil register of foreign birth certificates of children
conceived by surrogacy or assisted fertility, which is only
allowed for heterosexual couples here.
A major rally took place in Milan on Saturday to protest against
transcriptions of birth certifications in such cases being
stopped and to defend the right of same-sex-parent families.
The CEI expressed "strong concern" about "growing individualism
and the advance of visions that risk distorting the idea of the
family itself.
"Recognizing the original, unique and complementary nature of
the institution of the family entails, first of all, protecting
children, who can never be considered a product," it said.
"In this regard, many people, even with very different ideas,
recognize that practices that commodify women and newborns are
unacceptable".
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