This lesbian mother was told to say she had sex with a man to have her baby legally recognised
(Chiara Foglietta/Facebook)
An Italian lesbian has been told to say that her child came from her having sex with a man.
Chiara Foglietta, a councillor in Turin, used artificial insemination in Denmark to become pregnant.
She and her partner Micaela Ghisleni welcomed their son, Niccolò Pietro, into the world on April 13.
(Facebook/Micaela Ghisleni)
But authorities have refused to recognise their child, because Italy only allows straight couples to access fertility treatments.
Foglietta, who used sperm donated by an anonymous man, was presented with the possibility of lying about the child’s origins, but rejected this option.
On Facebook, the centre-left politician wrote that “the staff [at the public records office] tell me ‘you should declare that you had sex with a man, to get your boy registered.
(Facebook/abed mutas)
“‘There is no formula allowing you to say that you had artificial insemination.'”
She rebuked this concept, saying that her son came into this world because she and Micaela had wanted a child, and that “he is our son.”
Foglietta said that “to get him registered at the public records office I have to tell a lie,” adding that this was unacceptable to her, because “every child has the right to know his or her own story, the combination of events that created him or her.”
She continued with the message that people should “take care of the future together with courage.
“You have an important role and you can do so much more. We can do more together.
“Not for me, but for Niccolò, for all rainbow children, for families who do not have the same strength to face these battles, for the children of single women and those with partners who have chosen medically assisted procreation with external donor and want to tell the truth.
(Facebook/gianvito pontrandolfo)
“The problem is today, not in the future, but in the present. The present here, now.”
In a separate post, she promised Niccolò: “Me and Micaela will hold your hand every moment and fight so you can have everything you dream of.”
Italy does not allow fertility treatments – including surrogacy, sperm or egg donation and embryo freezing – for anyone apart from “stable straight couples” proven to be clinically infertile.
The country’s rate of progress when it comes to same-sex parents has been slow.
In 2014, a lesbian couple became the first in the country to legally adopt a child.
(Facebook/sara cariola)
And it wasn’t until last year that the first gay couple was recognised as the legal parents of children born to a surrogate.
Turin mayor Chiara Appendino confirmed that “the law currently does not provide for recognition of the sons and daughters of homosexual couples born in Italy,” according to the BBC.
She added: “Personally I am in favour and willing to proceed with registration, but with this current legal vacuum the rights of the parents and children cannot be guaranteed.”
(Facebook/Chiara Foglietta)
The country legalised same-sex civil unions in 2016, in the face of strong opposition from the powerful Catholic church, sparking rebellions from Catholic lawmakers.
The law, which came about after the European Court of Human Rights found the country breached human rights laws, was passed after Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi called a confidence vote in himself to force it through.
