The government of the northern Italian city of Padua has removed the names of 27 non-biological lesbian mothers from their children’s birth certificates. The public prosecutor in Padua confirms this on Friday CNNafter previous reports from several international news agencies. It concerns the names of partners of women who have become pregnant abroad through artificial insemination.
The city council of the center-left Padua had earlier promised to expand the traditional mentions of mother and father on birth certificates, so that non-biological mothers could also be added to a certificate in family situations with two women and a child. The board reversed this decision because the government of President Giorgia Meloni ordered to stop registering both names of same-sex parents. The measure therefore also applies to male couples who have children. From now on, they must choose which of the two is listed as the legal father on the birth certificate. A non-biological parent already has to go through the legal path of adoption.
Read also: Italian government conducts ‘political attack against LGBTI families’ out
The change reduces the rights of unregistered parents, CNN writes. Among other things, they need permission to perform everyday tasks, such as picking up the child from school or using public services on behalf of the child. So far, only Padua has changed birth certificates, but it is expected that boards of other Italian municipalities will do the same soon.
LGBTI marriage and surrogacy are both illegal in Italy. According to Meloni, the latter should even become a “universal crime”. If a bill on this is approved, Italians who had a child outside Italy via a surrogate mother can also be prosecuted in a country where this is legally allowed if they come to Italy with the child. There are talks of imprisonment of up to two years and fines of 600,000 to 1 million euros. During her election campaign, Meloni already vowed that she would fight “against the LGBT lobby and gender ideology”.