Italy's top court rules both same-sex mothers can be recognised on child's birth certificate

Italy’s constitutional court ruled on Thursday that both women in a same-sex relationship can be legally recognised as parents on a child’s birth certificate, declaring it unconstitutional to limit parental recognition solely to the biological mother.

The court found that denying recognition to the non-biological mother who consented to the medically assisted pregnancy and shares in raising the child violates the rights of children born into same-sex families.

LGBTQ+ advocates hailed the ruling as a major milestone for civil rights in Italy. “This is a historic day for civil rights in Italy,” the group said, as quoted by the Associated Press.

Rainbow families said in a statement, "At last, what we have been saying all along is being recognised: boys and girls have the right to see both parents recognised, from birth, even when they are two mothers."

The group added that the decision sends a clear message to lawmakers: “It is no longer constitutionally acceptable to pretend we don’t exist.”

Opponents of the ruling, including the conservative association Pro life and family, condemned the decision. The group called it “illogical” and claimed it reduced the lives of children born to same-sex couples to “an existential joke.”

In recent years, some city officials had followed a 2023 interior ministry directive by only registering the biological mother on birth certificates. This forced non-biological mothers to undergo lengthy adoption procedures to gain legal rights over their children.

That directive was part of a broader push by Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government to restrict surrogacy and reaffirm traditional family values. A 2004 law already limited parental recognition in such cases, and Italy maintains strict rules on medically assisted reproduction, including a ban on surrogacy. In 2023, the government extended that ban to penalise Italians who pursue surrogacy abroad.

The court’s ruling does not address the legality of assisted reproduction itself, but it significantly expands legal protections for children raised by same-sex couples — and challenges the current government's restrictive stance on LGBTQ+ families.