(Ri?) pensare la maternità

Surrogacy does not prompt a rethinking of the normative category of motherhood. Indeed, in the current Italian legal framework, «maternity» is defined as a relationship which necessarily involves a woman (being the biological giver of pregnancy and childbirth sufficient to establish this relationship), is asymmetric (since its content is determined mainly by the best interests of the offspring), but not exclusive (tolerating multiple «mothers» with different functions, e.g. birth mother and social mother). Thus, intended parents of children born abroad through a surrogacy arrangement could be recognised as legal parents, if the «maternal» relationship between the surrogate and the child is ensured a minimum recognition. And this occurs, for instance, when the country of origin stores information on the woman’s identity and promotes the child’s access to information about his or her birth origins. On the contrary, it is my belief that public policy should bar the recognition in Italy of foreign birth certificates that cancel tout court the birth mother.