“They risk up to two years in prison and one million fine”: speaks the lawyer of the homogenitoric couple blocked in California with a child born from gestation for others

Two dads, a child born from gestation for others in California and the paradox of not being able to return In Italy without risking prison and a dizzying fine. This is the situation in which there is a homogenitoric couple originally from Arezzo, legally followed by the lawyer Gianni Baldini. The case could become the first test of the new law on the universal crime for surrogate motherhood.

“If they return to Italy they risk two months to two years of arrest and a fine of 600 thousand euros up to one million», The lawyer explains,” because this law extends the sanctions provided for by law 40 on medically assisted procreation also to couples who resort to gestation for others abroad “.

A noteworthy detail, considering that “The practice is absolutely lawful in 62 countries around the worldwhere it happens with all the health and economic guarantees for the pregnant woman. We are talking about a legitimate conduct in the place where it was carried out ».

According to Baldini, we are in front of an unprecedented legal short circuit: «To prosecute a behavior abroad, the so -called double incrimination is needed: that is, that behavior is considered a crime also in the country where it was committed. But in this case, the gestation for others is perfectly legal in California. It is as if an Islamic country wanted to punish its own town in Italy to have come out without veil».

In the meantime, The child is an American citizen for ius solibut the unknown of his future status in Italy remains. One possibility would be to record the child only as the son of the biological Father, leaving the other parent without any legal recognition. But even this hypothesis is not without consequences: “The second parent could ask for adoption in the futureas happened before the new law. But now the situation becomes complicated: can a court consider suitable for adoption who has just committed a crime? Social services will evaluate, but but There is a risk that the sentence to deny parenting is used», Baldini explains.

To date, the couple has no intention of returning to Italy. “There are no legal ways to return without risking the very serious criminal consequences, despite the pregnancy began before the entry into force of the law on the universal crime”. And again: «I don’t think they will stay there forever, but They certainly will not return until there is a clearer regulatory framework. And perhaps, until those who governs today will change. “

The hypothesis of the autodenunciation? «Highly risky. There are no precedents. And I don’t think this is the only couple involved: it is estimated that there are at least 100 gestations for others every year in Italy, both by heterosexual and homogenitor couples. Out of 17 thousand children born from assisted procreation per year, we are talking about small numbers ». According to Baldini, the central point is this: “This law was born with the declared intent to dissuade, to discourage. But so the child is hit, not adults. The rights of the minor are trampled on, his protection, his family identity. It is a rule that also undermines the constitutional principles of family freedom ».

And he adds with bitterness: «In a country where civil unions have been read for years, and where homogenitoric families are a concrete reality, this law appears as a step -back cultural and legal. It seems more made to send an ideological message than to really protect someone».