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ROME (AP) \u2014 Italy\u2019s Constitutional Court ruled Friday that unmarried people can adopt foreign minors, ending a 40-year-ban on the practice and setting a precedent that could pave the way to allowing Italian singles to adopt from within the country.<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s court ruling declared unconstitutional the exclusion of singles from international adoptions under a 1983 Italian law, which allowed only married couples to pursue international adoptions.<\/p>\n
According to Italy\u2019s top court, the exclusion of single people risked undermining “the effectiveness of the child\u2019s right to grow up in a stable and harmonious family environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The court decision also reflects concerns among adoption advocates over a downward trend in Italy\u2019s international adoption over the past few years, due to increasing difficulties for couples in completing adoptions abroad and the high costs related to the lengthy process.<\/p>\n
According to Italy\u2019s international adoption commission, in the first semester of 2024 international adoption in the country fell by 5.6% from the same period a year before and by 14.3% from the first semester of 2022.<\/p>\n
Italy’s right-wing government headed by Premier Giorgia Meloni has opposed singles’ adoptions in court, but the country’s center-left opposition hailed Friday’s ruling as a \u201chistoric turning point.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt puts the rights of minors and the freedom of self-determination of every individual first,\u201d said Democratic Party\u2019s lawmaker Alessandro Zan, who has promoted battles for the parenting rights of singles and gay couples.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow the Italian parliament must intervene, adapt the current legislation and remove every ideological obstacle,\u201d Zan added. \u201cAnd let\u2019s go further: This right must also be extended to gay couples.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ruling takes effect immediately.<\/p>\n
In October, the Meloni government approved new legislation that criminalizes Italian citizens who go abroad to have children through surrogac<\/a> y, a measure slammed by opponents as \u201cmedieval\u201d and discriminatory to same-sex couples.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n