Comparare per differenza: lo statuto giuridico della gestazione per altri in Italia e negli ordinamenti di common law.

The paper aims to highlight the importance of the legal implications of using law as a tool for governing women's bodies. Since the 1960s, part of legal scholarship has sought to emphasize—particularly in connection with the civil movements that emerged in the United States—that for centuries, a deeply rooted patriarchal culture has assigned decisions related to reproduction to public authority, stripping women of their autonomy. Although not without challenges, the legal frameworks of the analyzed constitutional democracies based on common law demonstrate that the regulation of surrogacy, including commercial surrogacy, is possible without necessarily leading to the exploitation of women in conditions of social and economic vulnerability. The role of civil courts in overseeing the emerging relationship between intended parents and the child—while also considering the surrogate mother—positions the judiciary as a key guarantor of the child's best interests. Similar to other sensitive family law matters, this approach ensures a relational perspective rather than a merely medical-therapeutic one.