Only biological parents can be listed on birth certificates in Northern Italy

AP Photo/Andrew Medichini

In response to a new legislation introduced by the conservative government led by Giorgia Meloni, the northern Italian city of Padova has begun the procedure to remove the names of non-biological parents from birth certificates.

Official records show that these birth certificates pertain to 33 children of Italian lesbian mothers, who were registered as parents in 2017 during the tenure of the municipal government led by Sergio Giordani. As of Thursday, changes had been made to 27 of these documents to erase the names of non-biological parents, Remix News reports.

Giordani came into office as mayor in 2017 with a pledge to eliminate the conventional "mother" and "father" labels on birth certificates. However, this was reversed when Meloni's administration instructed local officials to cease the registration of children from same-sex couples with both parents' names.

This implies that only the child's biological parent can be listed on the birth certificates. Italy forbids surrogacy and has yet to legalize gay marriage.

The regulation also inhibits men in same-sex partnerships from recording the birth of their children under both fathers' names. Instead, they are compelled to select one among them to be the legally recognized father.

Earlier in March, Giordani had declared that his office would continue to register children with same-sex parents, notwithstanding the government directive.