Naples, the story of Gabriella Poppiti, 'outlaw mother' and symbol of the rights denied to women in Italy.

The story of Gabriella Poppiti, a forty-two-year-old Neapolitan single mother of little Matteo, is much more than a tale of motherhood: it is a lucid and painful x-ray of a country that, when it comes to reproductive rights, continues to leave women behind.

While medically assisted reproduction (MAP) is an accessible and protected option in much of Europe, Italy remains hostage to an anachronistic law. Gabriella's testimony, brought to the forefront of the debate during the 23rd Congress of the Luca Coscioni Association in Naples, exposes an unacceptable reality for the public: being a single mother in our country means, effectively, being treated like an outlaw.

A right denied in one's homeland: the absurd paradox of Law 40

Gabriella's ordeal began at thirty-seven, when she decided to take a foresighted and responsible step: cryopreserving her eggs in Italy. A healthcare option that the law allowed her to pursue, but which immediately turned into a bureaucratic mockery.

Due to the bans imposed by Law 40, unmarried or non-cohabiting women are denied the right to use their gametes in their own country. It's the Italian paradox: you can freeze your biological future in a national public or private facility, but you can't let it flourish. To realize her dream of holding a child in her arms, Gabriella was forced into a veritable medical exile, arranging for the transfer of her eggs to a clinic in Spain.

The price of self-determination: twenty-five flights and thirty thousand euros.

The journey to becoming a mother thus became a marathon of clinical, psychological, and financial obstacles. To follow medical protocols abroad, Gabriella had to take twenty-five flights, incur thirty thousand euros in expenses, and endure the emotional burden of six failed attempts before the success of the seventh transfer.

A journey often undertaken alone, far from loved ones and their hometowns. A clear economic inequality: in Italy, access to assisted parenting risks becoming a privilege for those who can afford to travel and pay for treatment abroad, excluding those who lack the same financial resources.

The mobilization and battle of the "PMA for all" campaign

Gabriella's voice is not isolated. Her cry of alarm is part of the impetus behind the "ART for All" campaign, promoted by the Luca Coscioni Association. Through a popular initiative, the goal is clear: to collect the fifty thousand signatures needed to submit a proposal to Parliament that eliminates discrimination and opens access to ART to single women and female couples.

"No other woman should have to go through what I went through," Gabriella reiterated from the Foqus stage. An urgent appeal to politicians to resolve to bridge the gap between real civil rights and decades-old legislation, restoring dignity and equality to all women who desire to be mothers.