Ordine pubblico e riconoscimento in Italia dello status di figlio “nato da due madri” all’estero: considerazioni critiche sulla sentenza della Corte di Cassazione n. 19599/2016

In a judgment of 30 September 2016 the Italian Court of Cassation held that the recognition of a parent-child relationship lawfully created abroad (Spain) by a same-sex married couple through a medically assisted reproductive technique, which is prohibited in Italy, is not contrary to the Italian public policy. The Court’s reasoning essentially relies on the principle of the best interests of the child, which is considered as a primary constitutional principle of the Italian legal system and which implies the need for the continuity of the family status involved. The paper develops some critical remarks over the findings reached by the Court and, in particular, criticizes its new methodological approach in respect to the public policy exception, both as to the identification of the sources of its contents and the method to ascertain it in the Italian legal system.