On 13 March 2026, the Venice Juvenile Court issued an order raising a question of constitutional legitimacy regarding Law No. 184/1983; in particular, the judges challenged Article 29 bis, paragraph 1, which excludes same-sex couples in civil partnerships (Law No. 76/2016) from the international adoption of children. 

According to the Court, this ban is unreasonable and discriminatory and would conflict with various principles of the Italian Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The decision follows a recent ruling by the Constitutional Court, which declared the exclusion of single persons from international adoption to be unconstitutional.

The automatic exclusion of same-sex couples disproportionately restricts their ability to contribute to the protection of abandoned children through their adoption and prevents the judge from assessing the couple’s suitability on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the specific circumstances of each individual case. According to the judges, the ban fails to respect the principle of equality and discriminates against and penalises both children and same-sex couples in civil partnerships.

The case in question concerns a Venetian couple who have been in a civil partnership since 2019. The partners, driven by a strong desire to adopt a child, have been deemed suitable, well-adjusted and mature by psychologists and social workers, but are currently blocked by a law that creates a paradox: indeed, if the couple were to divorce, each of the (former) partners could adopt as a single parent, while they cannot do it jointly. The court decision to refer the case to the Constitutional Court highlights the evolution of Italian society, in which civil partnerships and other forms of non-traditional parenting have been recognised, making it obsolete to restrict adoption to married couples alone and excluding those living in civil partnership. 

The case is being handled by lawyers Eleonora Biondo and Valentina Pizzol, who argue that the ruling by the Venice Juvenile Court represents an opportunity to overcome this ban and open up the adoption of foreign children by same-sex couples. The two lawyers believe that current legislation prevents the effective assessment of the child’s best interests, which should instead be the central focus in any adoption procedure. 

The matter has now been referred to the Constitutional Court, which will have to determine whether the current legislation complies with the principles of the Italian Constitution and the international standards cited by the referring tribunal. The Constitutional Court’s decision could significantly impact Italian family law, redefining the criteria for access to international adoption and placing greater emphasis on the best interests of the child and the couple’s actual parenting abilities.