FILE PHOTO: People hold up pens as a sign of protest after Italy's right-wing government told Milan's city council to stop registering same-sex parents' children in Milan, Italy March 18, 2023. REUTERS/Claudia Greco/File Photo
ROME (Reuters) - The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rejected on Thursday a number of appeals by Italian same-sex and heterosexual couples who challenged national restrictions against the recognition of children born abroad through surrogacy.
Surrogacy is banned in Italy, and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government has targeted gay men who use it to have children, even though the practice is more common among heterosexual couples.
In three separate rulings on similar cases, the ECHR said the Italian rules do not breach article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which covers the right to respect for private and family life.
Restrictions in Italy mean surrogate children can have only one legal parent, the biological one. It is however possible for an adult who is not the biological parent to obtain parenting rights through a special adoption procedure.
The ECHR said the adoption option was enough to guarantee the rights of these children - even if LGBT rights groups say it is expensive, lengthy, and places undue emotional strain on same-sex families.
The Strasbourg-based court found "Italian rules on adoption" can "fully guarantee" the relationship between a child and the partner of their biological parent, Italian Family Minister Eugenia Roccella wrote on Facebook.
"It's what we have been saying for a long time."
As part of its conservative agenda on family issues, Meloni's government has ordered city councils to stop registering the children of same-sex couples, and is pushing for a tougher anti-surrogacy law.
A law under discussion in the lower house of parliament would extend the current ban to cover couples who have surrogacy abroad, punishing them with jail terms of up to two years and fines of up 1 million euros ($1.10 million).
($1 = 0.9128 euros)
(Reporting by Federica Urso and Alvise Armellini, editing by Barbara Lewis)
