Becoming lesbian mothers in contemporary Italy: the challenge of social and legal constraints

Lesbian and gay couples’ rights have been recognized only very recently in Italy while parental rights are still denied and access to assisted reproduction for single and lesbian couples is prohibited. These legal provisions mirrors the social and political debate around homosexuality and parenting: a debate characterised by the trope of the ‘natural family’ and the primacy of blood over other forms of kinship creation that routinely excludes lesbian mothers from full sexual citizenship rights. However, against this background Italian lesbian mothers develop their parenting projects challenging the social and legal constraints of the Italian context. Drawing upon a set of narrative interviews with lesbian couples and women in this article we analyse how they negotiate their desires of motherhood redefining the meaning and practices of making kinship.