Decision from the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation to allow a mother to adopt her wife’s biological daughter welcomed by Network of European LGBTIQ Families Associations (NELFA).
The Supreme Court of Cassation in Italy upheld a decision that was made by a lower court in 2014, approving the request for a mother to adopt her wife’s biological daughter. The two women were married in Spain.
The court wrote: such adoptions “are admissible as long as they are in the pre-eminent interest of the minor.” It is indeed in the best interest of children to have their families fully recognised and in this way obtain the full legal protection to which they are entitled.
The ruling has set a legal precedent that could benefit hundreds of other Italian Rainbow Families.
Maria von Känel, President of the Board of NELFA, said: “After the recent decision on civil-unions, Italy has made another important legal step in the right direction. NELFA is particularly happy to see that the Court’s argumentation focused on the right’s of the child. All children deserve to be given the best possible protection, and that includes full legal recognition of their parents.”
Giuseppina La Delfa, an Italy-based NELFA Board Member and mother herself, added: “This is a wonderful victory for Italian Rainbow Families. It paves the way for further steps towards full Equality for Rainbow Families under Italian law. I would like to take this opportunity to thank these two mothers for agreeing to bring their case to Court and in this way benefit all other families in the same situation. It was an act of courage and solidarity.“
NELFA is the European platform of LGBTIQ families associations, bringing together LGBTIQ parents and parents-to-be from all over Europe.
NELFA currently represents 27 organisations in 18 European countries with more than 25,500 members and is a member of ILGA-Europe and Transgender Europe.
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