Bari, child with two fathers and one mother: yes to transcription at the registry office
A four-year-old boy has been recognised by the Bari Court of Appeal, 'for the first time in Italia', as the child of three parents: two fathers and a mother. This was reported by the Corriere della Sera. The baby was born in Germany.
"The biological father," it says, "is married to an Italian-German citizen with whom he has been staying for more than ten years, the mother is a long-standing friend of the male couple and already has other children. The child was conceived through sexual intercourse and was recognised at birth by both the mother and the biological father, to whom he was entrusted. The father immediately brought him up with his Italo-German husband, who after some time asked to recognise the child, since Germany allows the adoption of a partner's child for same-sex couples (the child, moreover, already had his Italian surname, because the husband took it on by marriage, passing it on to the child). The two fathers,' he continued, 'then asked for the German adoption, and thus the certificate that the child has three parents, to be transcribed also in Italia, in the Apulian municipality where the second Italo-German father is registered at the registry office of Italians living abroad. The municipality, however, denied the transcription, believing that there could be a 'hidden' surrogate motherhood behind the adoption. And the case ended up at the Bari Court of Appeal'.
The two fathers, assisted by lawyer Pasqua Manfredi of Rete Lendford, then proved that 'there had been no surrogacy, a practice also prohibited by German law'. And they provided the report issued by the German Social Services Office 'in view of the adoption of the partner's child, which states that 'a visit was made to the home of the homosexual couple; both partners exercise parental responsibility over the child, who lives with them from birth'; they devote themselves 'to the care, assistance, care and education of the child, from the moment of its birth'.
The Bari Court of Appeal's ruling was issued in January and has now become final. "The report states that 'the child's mother consents to the adoption'". After ascertaining that "the biological mother was in favour of recognising the second father and that there had been no surrogate motherhood or any kind of prohibited 'gestational pact', the Court of Appeal of Bari therefore ordered the transcription of the deed recognising all three parents also in Italia. Also in our country, in fact, there is a legal institution that allows the recognition of other parental ties besides the biological ones, without annulling the legal relationship with the 'blood' parents: it is adoption in special cases. And the judges concluded that German adoption was compatible with Italia law'.
