Genitorialità, matrimonio e famiglia nel diritto italiano vigente

The paper analyzes the connection between parenting, marriage and family in light of the recent legislative reform of Filiation Law, Separation Law and Divorce Law. Despite the fact that these reforms affect different areas of law, all of them testify the progressive loss of exclusivity and prestige of the family founded on marriage, as well as the correlative acceptance of alternative family models. The reform of Filiation Law erased the historical distinction between "legitimate" and "natural" children, so  that every child has the same legal status, regardless of the marriage bond between the parents. Meanwhile, the other reforms greatly expanded the autonomy of spouses in modifying or terminating the effects of the marriage, through the possibility to obtain separation or divorce by mutual consent without judicial proceeding, in a very short time. These reforms raise the question of the coherence of this new structure with regard to what is stated in art. 29, paragraph 1 of the Constitution, that conceives marriage as a constitutive element of the family, and also in art. 30, paragraph 3 of the Constitution, that ensures to children born from unmarried parents legal and social protection "compatible with the rights of members of the legitimate family".