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.
Other European countries have tried to clamp down on overseas travel as well.
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.
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.
