Italian Parliament passes law on surrogacy making it a "universal crime" ======================================================================== [Maria Fiorito](https://vardags.com/solicitors/maria) | Partner — Dual Qualified (Italy) | 24th October 2024 ![Italian Parliament passes law on surrogacy making it a universal crime](https://vardags.com/images/pictures/_360/italian-flag-close-up-2.jpg)After a seven-hour debate on the 16th of October 2024, the Italian Senate has approved a law that prohibits Italians from seeking surrogacy *abroad*, punishable by three months to two years in prison and a fee from €600,000 up to 1m. The ban has been supported by the current government led by Giorgia Meloni, after a furious debate in parliament and in the Senate, which eventually passed the law by 84 votes to 58. Surrogacy has been illegal in Italy since 2004 under the Law on Assisted Reproduction (L. 40/2004), which explicitly prohibits "the making, planning or marketing of maternity surrogacy". This new bill has now widened the borders of this "crime", by way of extending the jurisdiction of the Italian Courts (and criminal liability attached to it) on any conducts - as described above - perpetrated by an Italian citizen, even if these conducts have taken place in a foreign country. As a result, any intended parents who plan to travel abroad to have a child by way of surrogacy will be now on considered "criminals"and face the risk of being jailed. The Italian Government pushed for this change in the law, with the support of the Catholic Church, with the specific aim of targeting "surrogacy tourism" in countries like the United States and Canada where surrogacy is legal. Currently, an estimated 250 Italian couples a year go abroad to have surrogate children, and interestingly, the majority of them are straight couples. The new law does not affect parents whose children born of surrogacy are already registered in Italy, but many parents who have made the often difficult and expensive decision to have children through surrogacy abroad have been thrown into a state of fear after a sudden shift in the country's already strict restrictions on bringing those children up in Italy. Promoters claim a rule of common sense against the "exploitation of the female body and children" and the Prime Minister described surrogacy as "a symbol of an abominable society that confuses desire with rights and replaces God with money". Opponents and the representatives of the LGBT communities have condemned the law as "unconstitutional," "from the Middle Ages," and "against children and LGBTQ+ families", damaging those who wanted to have children despite the fact Italy has a sharply declining birth rate. Alongside surrogacy, the Law on Assisted Preproduction, also prohibits "the making, the organisation and marketing of the sale of gametes or embryos", also punishable by three months to two years in prison and a fee of up to €1m. In 2014, with an historic decision (sentence 162/2014) the Italian Constitutional Court ruled unconstitutional the bar on heterologous medically assisted reproduction for couples affected by irreversible sterility or infertility, thus partially limiting the extend of the Law on Assisted Reproduction. It is expected that this new law will also be brought before the Constitutional Court's attention in the near future, on the basis that the introduction of surrogacy as a "universal crime" (alongside genocide and terrorism) may be unconstitutional, as it punishes a conduct legal in the countries where it is committed. However, what view the Constitutional Court is going to take is still hard to say. **Surrogacy laws around the world** - Same as Italy, Spain, France and Germany also prohibit all forms of surrogacy. - In the UK, surrogacy is legal but only if done altruistically and not for commercial gain. This means that you cannot pay a woman in the UK to carry a child for you, beyond the payment of their "reasonable expenses" throughout the process. The surrogate will be registered on the child's birth certificate until parenthood is transferred by the Court to the intended parents via a parental order. - In Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and the Czech Republic, the Court's intervention is also required (similarly to the UK), although it is not possible to get a court to enforce a surrogacy agreement and the Court will consider what is in the best interest of the child if there is a disagreement. - Greece accepts foreign couples and provides legal protection to the intended parents - the surrogate has no legal rights over the child - however Greece insists there should be a woman in the relationship (thus excluding gay couples or single men). - The US and Canada allow surrogacy for same-sex couples and recognise them as the legal parents from birth. 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