Italian Kids Can’t Keep Mother’s Name

The Italian Constitutional Court recently criticised a law preventing children from taking their mother’s name but said it was powerless to change the situation. Current Italian legislation prevents children from assuming their mother’s surname unless the father is unknown. Judges have now deemed this an outdated patriarchal concept of families. The law also goes against several international conventions and EU re-commendations. However, judges refused to accept an appeal by Italy’s highest court to deem the law unconstitutional, reporting that it was up to parliament to amend it.