The European Court of Human Rights on
Thursday rejected a series of appeals against Italy by same-sex
couples asking the court to condemn Rome because it does not
permit the registration of foreign birth certificates of
children born using surrogate mothers.
In one case, the appeal was filed by a heterosexual couple.
The court said the couples had had the option of adopting their
children, and had not taken it.
The Italian government has filed a bill to make surrogacy a
"universal crime", meaning that henceforth couples who come back
from abroad with kids had by a surrogate will be prosecuted.
Gay couples in the northern city of Padua are appealing
requests by prosecutors to cancel the name of non-biological
mothers from children's birth certificates on grounds of alleged
illegitimacy.
The ECHR ruling is a blow against gay couples' fights across
Italy to keep the option of foreign surrogacy alive.
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