I nuovi scenari della filiazione e della genitorialità

In contemporary Western societies, family is characterized by the differentiation of family configurations and relationships, and by the centrality of parental responsibility. These transformations, together with the development of medically-assisted reproduction techniques, in particular those requiring gamete donations, have strongly weakened the traditional marriage-centric, heteronormative and binary conception of parenting and parenthood. Blended families and, above all, homoparental families, which unequivocally highlight the centrality of intentional parenting, are a touchstone for all the issues today arising around the legal regulation of parenthood. In this article we will try to give an account of these complex issues, and of the path that a growing number of countries is accomplishing to recognize the rights and duties of all those who, in different family forms, perform care and responsibility functions. [Publisher's text].