ADVERTISEMENTA court In Italy has recognized the legal status of a child born to a gay couple.
The ruling challenges the country’s stance on marriage being between only a man and a woman.
While Italy does not allow gay marriage or civil partnerships, some courts and town councils have begun to recognise the validity of same-sex marriages that have taken place abroad.
The appeal court in Turin ruled that a child – conceived by artificial insemination and born in Barcelona to a Spanish and Italian lesbian couple – can be entered into the official records of the town where the Italian woman lives.
The ruling means the child, who was born in 2011, will have Italian citizenship and can go to Italy to be with the mother, who is divorced from her Spanish wife.
Same sex marriage is legal in Spain and a court in Barcelona has given joint custody to both women.