It may have been inspired by Habla con ella, Pedro Almodovar's film in which the young dancer Alicia, in a coma due to an accident, becomes pregnant by Benigno, the nurse caring for her. Anna Smajdor, Professor of Medical Bioethics University of Oslo, takes up and elaborates on a suggestion made in 2000 by Israeli researcher Rosalie Ber "to circumvent the moral problems of gestational surrogacy" by using women in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) as surrogate wombs. To the practice she gives the [...]

Judgements must be read carefully because the devil, so to speak, is in the details. But there is no doubt that the United Sections of the Court of Cassation, in its ruling 38162 filed yesterday, once again rejected the request for full and automatic registration of the birth certificates of children born abroad by womb surrogacy, allowing the registry office only to indicate the biological parent. The application was very simple. In short: the birth certificate made in Canada of a child born by [...]

On 2 July 2022 on the occasion of Gay Pride, the mayor of Milan Beppe Sala publicly announced from the stage of the event that he had 'as of yesterday reactivated the recognition of children born in Italy to homogenous couples. It is with great joy that I personally signed it yesterday in my office,' adding that 'Milan wants to be the capital of rights and duties!' The practice of uterus for rent -or gestation for others- can in no way be considered a right. [...]

At least three things can be said about the bill filed by Maurizio Gasparri to amend Article 1 of the Civil Code and introduce into our legal system the recognition of the legal capacity of the conceived 'with the intention of preventing voluntary abortion in any form, whether legal or clandestine'. The first: it is highly unlikely that the bill will reach parliamentary halls. The immediate consequence of its approval would be the substantial inapplicability of law 194 because abortion would in fact be tantamount to murder. None of the majority forces [...]

A gay couple filed a lawsuit in New York labour court demanding that their employer-provided insurance company pay all the costs of the surrogate uterus for them, in order to ensure 'equal access to fertility treatment'. For all intents and purposes, they are demanding that a gay male couple become a protected category under the law because they are both without a womb and without access to one. If they win the case, in all [...]

'We have restarted the recognition of children born in Italy by homogenous couples': the words with which Mayor Beppe Sala announced his personal 'gift' to Pride initially caused some confusion. In fact, children born 'in Italy' on the initiative of - and not 'by' - same-sex couples are only the children of women united with other women. The children of male couples are born in Canada, California or other procreative tourism destinations, but not in Italy [...].

Giorgia Meloni could become the first woman prime minister in our country. She no longer hides her ambition and if she knows how to do the right things by next spring - or rather, if she does not do the wrong things - and if she manages to escape the volleys of friendly fire, no less intense and insidious than enemy fire, she will be able to achieve her goal, having only herself to thank for the mistakes of her opponents: no one has co-opted her - see here - she has no master [...].

While in Italy we are preparing to "welcome" the Fair of the surrogate motherhood, scheduled for 21-22 May in a place still unknown - we will know only at the last minute - and in addition to the two bills already under discussion in the Commission of Justice of the Chamber of Deputies, proposals that call for the punishment of "surrogate motherhood even if carried out abroad, is preparing a draft law of popular initiative with a collection of signatures for a definitive stop to the practice - we will soon give details - next 28 April [...]

A very recent ruling by the Supreme Court in Spain states that the surrogate motherhood violates the rights of mothers and children "treated as mere commodities", reiterating the ban. The High Court affirms that this type of contract "causes damage to the best interests of the child and an exploitation of women that is unacceptable" and violates the fundamental rights recognised by the Constitution and international conventions on human rights, and therefore "is therefore manifestly contrary to our public order". Both women and [...]

Maternity, work, uterus for rent, gender identity, transition of minors, women's health, male violence, prostitution, politics and elections, women in the South, ecological transition. These are some of the issues addressed during the meeting attended by Alessandra Bocchetti, Monica Ricci Sargentini, Veronica Tamborini, Manuela Ulivi, Ilaria Baldini, Luana Zanella, Daniela Dioguardi, Marina Terragni, Assuntina Morresi, Elvira Reale. These are the objectives of the political work of the next few months: if anyone is interested in taking part in this work, choosing one of [...]

To the Mayor of Milan Beppe Sala To the City Council We have learned that on 21-22 May Un Sogno Chiamato Bebè (A Dream Called Baby) will be held in Milan at the Spazio Antologico-East End Studios in via Mecenate 84. The fair is organised by the same promoters of the "salon", which has already been held in Paris, Cologne, Munich and Berlin, and is coming to Italy for the first time (see here and here). The aim is to relaunch a business, that of buying and selling children, a "sector" which at the moment is [...]

Ukraine is on the brink of war. The world is on tenterhooks, Europe could be facing a conflict at home, those who can leave the country but there are also those who do not want to. Like Natalia, 29, a surrogate mother who called her lawyer the other day to find out if she could be forced to leave the country by the 'intended parents', the people who ordered her child. Natalia, the name is fictional, has a husband and children, for [...]