When the "Pro-Family" Movement Comes For Your Family

Italy has criminalized seeking surrogacy abroad. It's just part of a global crackdown on non-traditional families.

Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

Italy’s far-right post-fascist “pro-family” and “pro-life” government has just made it a crime, punishable by up to a million euros in fines and prison time, for Italians seek surrogates abroad to have children. Italy already bans domestic surrogacy, international and domestic adoption for same-sex couples, and IVF for same-sex couples and single women. This latest surrogacy ban, the most restrictive of all Western nations, effectively means that male couples in Italy cannot have children.

My personal views on surrogacy are complicated. In many instances, it is plainly unethical. In most instances, it is ethically questionable and only possible because of vast inequality. Many countries do not adequately protect surrogates, and many poor women are exploited by wealthier would-be parents. I am not convinced that everyone has the right to become a parent. And also: Women deserve reproductive agency, and there are situations in which that can absolutely extend to surrogacy; we live in an unequal world, and need to assess whether regulating the end result of that inequality is the best way to mitigate its harms. Broad bans like Italy’s fail to adequately and fairly balance these interests or to address surrogacy’s complexities.

This particular ban has a stunning long reach, and a chilling enforcement mechanism: Snitching. It’s one that could have been adopted from the American pro-life movement, which has pushed and passed similar laws that rely on bad actors ratting out their friends, family members, and neighbors for seeking out abortions. In Italy, anyone can now go to the police and report that they suspect another family of utilizing surrogacy. And this creates all kinds of legal questions: If an Italian couple travels to Country A to partake in an activity that is totally legal there — surrogacy — can their own country throw them in prison upon their return?

Oh and the “progressive” Pope Francis? He wants surrogacy banned everywhere in the world (abortion, too).