The city court in Padua, Italy, has affirmed that children with two moms can have their nongestational mothers on their birth certificates. The ruling defies central government officials in the city, who last fall told 27 two-mom families, raising more than 30 children, that the nongestational parent was being removed from these vital documents.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government last year told cities not to allow the creation of Italian birth certificates that include two mothers, nor to recognize foreign birth certificates of children with two fathers. Central government officials in Padua’s Prosecutor’s Office went even further, and tried to remove nongestational mothers from their children’s existing documentation, sparking protests across Europe.
Famiglie Arcobaleno (Rainbow Families), the country’s largest organization for LGBTQ parents, explained that the children in these families “would lose inheritance rights, the full right to education and health, the stability and security of a family fully recognized by the State.” (Google translation here and below; see links for original Italian text.)
Now, however, the Padua city court has ruled that the nongestational mothers should remain on their children’s birth certificates. Alessia Crocini, president of Famiglie Arcobaleno, said in a statement that this was “An act of civility and protection of the minor sons and daughters of couples of mothers, at a time when Italy and this government in particular have decided to trample on their rights.”
The Legal Group of the organization added, “This result is the result of shared work and a team of lawyers who believe in justice and in the ability of the law to fill the gaps in politics. It is a great satisfaction that the Court accepted our defensive line by declaring the appeals inadmissible and effectively confirming the birth certificates with double motherhood.”
Lawyer Michele Giarratano, who represented 15 of the children, told Agence France Presse (via Barron’s), that while this was “wonderful news,” the prosecutors or the interior ministry could still appeal the ruling.
A court in Milan had also recognized two moms on a birth certificate last year, but the decision was overturned on appeal last month. Just a few weeks ago, however, the Court of Rome decided in favor of a two-mom family, recognizing a foreign birth certificate listing two mothers of a child. The situation for LGBTQ families is clearly variable, and children are caught in the uncertainty. The security of having legal ties to both parents remains in doubt while the federal government continues its bias towards LGBTQ families.
Famiglie Arcobaleno noted in a press release on the Padua ruling that while the battle continues in the courts, “it should be resolved by politics, as already requested by the Constitutional Court. Italy must approve a law on the recognition of the sons and daughters of same-sex couples as soon as possible.”
Crocini said that Italy must now decide “whether it wants to take responsibility for protecting the rights of all minors or continue to persecute them.”
Note for U.S. readers: While a birth certificate is an important record here, too, it is critical to remember that while birth certificates reflect parentage, they do not by themselves legally establish parentage, and that many LGBTQ parents must take additional steps to ensure their legal parentage is secure. For more information, see LGBTQ Paths to Parentage Security, a guide created by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and myself.