Italian court: best interests of child should prevail in surrogacy disputes

December 20, 2017

In a case involving an Italian couple and an Indian surrogate mother, the Italian Constitutional Court has ruled that custody should not automatically be awarded to the genetic mother or to the non-genetic mother in surrogacy disputes. Instead, the best interests of the child should be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Italian law bans surrogacy, and the Court praised the ban, describing surrogacy as an offense against the dignity of women.

Catholic teaching against surrogacy is discussed in two documents of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Donum Vitae (1987) and Dignitas Personae (2008).

 

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Further information:

• Maternità surrogata, la Corte costituzionale: l’interesse alla verità va confrontato con quello del minore (Corriere della Sera)
• Sentenza della Corte costituzionale sulla maternità surrogata (L’Osservatore Romano, p. 2)