Surrogacy: Italian Controversial Issues

Abstract

I. Italian law no. 40\2004: the prohibition of surrogate motherhood. 1 In surrogate maternity a woman, who is outside the couple (donor or not of the oocyte), makes her uterus available to bring a pregnancy to term, agreeing to hand over the resulting child to the commissioning couple.Two types of surrogate maternity exist: traditional surrogacy, in which the fertilized ovule belongs to the pregnant woman, and gestational surrogacy, in which the surrogate mother, who carries the pregnancy to term, is implanted with an embryo, realized through in vitro fertilization, using samples coming from the requesting parents or from anonymous donors.Despite the fact that surrogate maternity is considered one of the techniques of artificial insemination, it sets unprecedented problems which could justify the forecast of the prohibition: the safeguard of the dignity of the pregnant woman and the condition of the child could justify the imposition of the absolute prohibition, although the violation of the right to health and to the self -determination of the sterile or completely infertile couple.