Italy expands its ban on surrogacy to overseas as critics say it targets same-sex couples

Italy on Wednesday criminalized citizens who go abroad to have children through surrogacy, a measure slammed by opponents as “medieval” and discriminatory to same-sex couples.

The measure extending a surrogacy ban in place since 2004 was promoted by Premier Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy party and its conservative coalition partner, the League, asserting that it protects women’s dignity.

The Senate after a seven-hour debate passed the bill 84-58, the final step in the process after the Lower House’s approval last year.

Italians seeking surrogacy in countries such as the United States or Canada, where the practice is legal, can face up to two years in jail and up to 1 million euros ($1.1 million) in fines.

The surrogacy ban applies equally to all couples. But same-sex parent advocates say it hits gay families particularly hard in a country struggling with record-low birthrates and where only heterosexual couples are allowed to adopt.

Same-sex marriages are also banned in Italy, and LGBTQ+ couples have been fighting to obtain parental rights for the partner who is not the biological parent.