Framing and shaming: LGBT activism, feminism and the construction of 'gestational surrogacy' in Italy

This article will discuss the existence of and reasons for a pattern of cross-mobilisation between Italian feminist and LGBT movements in relation to the controversial issue of gestational surrogacy. Gestational surrogacy usually involves a woman who offers to carry out a pregnancy (either on a voluntary basis or through monetary compensation) on behalf of couples (be them heterosexual or homosexual) who are infertile or cannot have children. In Italy gestational surrogacy has acquired prominence in the political debate following the approval of the law same-sex unions in 2016. Immediately within this context important fractures on this issue emerged between and within the feminist and LGBT movements. This article will consider the motivations behind those rifts and map the different proposed solutions to the regulation of gestational surrogacy in Italy.