One in 20 children is conceived through assisted reproduction, but income and the CAP restrict access
According to the Health Minister’s report to Parliament, 17,660 babies were born in 2024; however, the report also reveals that access to these techniques varies depending on a person’s initial circumstances
Key points
One in twenty children in Italia is born through medically assisted reproduction (MAR). According to the Health Minister’s report to Parliament, 17,660 children were born in 2024. This figure highlights the importance of reproductive medicine. However, the same report paints a picture of a country where access to these techniques still depends on income, place of residence and family composition.
Inequalities take their toll
A health issue thus becomes a matter of democracy and equality.
The Constitution does not merely recognise abstract freedoms. Article 3 commits the Republic to removing the economic and social obstacles that prevent the full development of the individual, and Article 32 protects health as a fundamental right. It is not enough to know which services are available: what matters is who can actually access them.
Genetic diagnosis not covered by the Lea
Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis demonstrates this. It also enables couples who are carriers of serious genetic conditions to make informed reproductive choices. The Constitutional Court, in its judgement No. 96 of 2015, lifted the ban on access for these couples. Yet the service is not expressly included in the national Essential Levels of Care (LEA), and only a few regions provide it using their own resources. 74.2 per cent of tests are carried out in private facilities. The right is therefore recognised but not guaranteed to everyone.
‘For the wealthy’ heterologous treatment
The same applies to heterologous fertilisation. The ban was lifted in 2014 and the technique is included in the Essential Healthcare Services (LEA), but public provision remains uneven: 67.1 per cent of treatment cycles take place in the private sector and 38.1 per cent outside the patient’s region of residence. 99.6 per cent of the donated oocytes used come from abroad, and there is no uniform national coverage of the costs associated with gamete procurement.
