With ruling no. 68 of May 22, 2025, the Constitutional Court declared the constitutional illegitimacy of Article 8 of Law number 40 of 2004 insofar as it does not provide that the non-biological mother - in a couple of two women - can be legally recognized as the parent of a child born in Italy following medically assisted procreation carried out abroad, in compliance with the laws of the foreign country. The Court's decision establishes that it is discriminatory to deny this recognition when the intentional mother has expressed clear and conscious consent to the procedure and the consequent assumption of parental responsibility.

This is a decision of great importance, which strongly affirms the principle that the child's right to have both parents recognized prevails over rigid regulatory limitations that are no longer in line with current social and family realities. The Court also based its ruling on international norms that protect the identity, dignity, and well-being of the child: Articles 8 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 24 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and Articles 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 18 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which guarantee the child's right to non-discrimination and affective and family continuity.

The issue had been raised by the Ordinary Court of Lucca, which had questioned the constitutional legitimacy of Articles 8 and 9 of Law no. 40/2004 and Article 250 of the Civil Code, insofar as they prevented the legal recognition of the intentional mother, even in the presence of a clear shared parental project.

With this ruling, the Court invites the legislator to fill this regulatory gap and recognizes that the best interests of the child must be at the center of family law, even when this means overcoming traditional models. The child born through assisted reproduction techniques, if desired by both mothers, has the right to be recognized as the child of both.

This decision marks an important step towards the full recognition of same-sex parent families in Italy.