Italy's Constitutional Court rules single people have right to adopt

22/3/2025 6:31

Italy's Constitutional Court ruled on Friday that single people can adopt foreign children, overturning a 40-year-old law limiting adoption to married couples in a country historically marked by a traditionalist view of the family.



Other European countries, including Germany, France, Britain and Spain, already allow single people to adopt.



With applications to adopt foreign children declining, the court said the ban on single people "risks undermining the effectiveness of the child's right to grow up in a stable and harmonious family environment".



The ruling underscores the need to update Italy's adoption laws to reflect social and family changes, said Paolo Limonta, president of CIAI, an Italian association dedicated to the adoption of children from abroad.



The court, which was called on to give a judgment on international adoptions, made no reference to the norms regarding the adoption of Italian children.