More on Italian Royalty Fight Over Inheritance for Surrogate Children

I recently reported on the inheritance battle between Italian Prince Jonathan Doria Pamphilj and his sister, Princess Gesine.  Both adopted into royalty as children, they now dispute whether Prince Jonathan’s children from a surrogate mother are heirs of the Princess and Prince’s mother’s estate.

A recent article discusses the Italian law at the center of this dispute, providing in relevant part that “the controversial Human Fertility Bill, passed by the Italian Senate in 2004. . . bans single women and homosexual men from access to artificial insemination and outlaws the use of surrogate mothers.”  Barbara Davies, Not so happy ever after . . . plucked as babies from an orphanage by an Italian princess, but now they’re at war over the family’s £1bn fortune, MailOnline, Oct. 24, 2009.

The article also quotes Princess Gesine as stating, “‘This is not the usual family squabble over inheritance. I believe I am acting in their best interests, to give these children a secure, legal footing so they know where they stand.”  Id.