"In the end the desire to have a child and a family, and the certainty of loving that being who, searched for with so much suffering, will arrive, prevails over everything".
Sofia is a medical student: she was born 21 years ago thanks to homologous medically assisted procreation (Pma) and for her the techniques that made her birth, and that of her twin sister, possible represent a "great opportunity".
For this reason, she says, "today I feel like fighting against every form of prejudice".
"My twin sister and I were born in Florence in 2002 with the homologous assisted fertilization technique - she tells ANSA -. Today I am attending the second year of Medicine in Siena and research fascinates me. I don't know yet what I will do, but it attracts me emergency medicine. In general, I think that scientific research is a huge opportunity in every field."
Sofia was born with homologous assisted fertilization, already possible in Italy before the entry into force of law 40/2004 which regulates ART: "I was born before the law, but I think it is right that there are precise rules that regulate this very particular sector".
Rules, but not prohibitions or "prejudices": "Today in Italy it is also possible to carry out heterologous MAP and I am totally in favour. Always with rules, I believe it is right to give every couple who wishes it the possibility of having children. Pma is not yet possible in our country for singles or homosexual couples, however I believe that when there is love and the will to bring a child into the world to be loved, every prejudice must be overcome. From this perspective, I also agree with the so-called gestation for third parties, at the center of many controversies. Just as I am in favor - he states - of the cryopreservation of gametes and eggs, very useful for those who have to face aggressive therapies but which could represent a resource for any woman at a particular moment in life".
Then recounting her personal experience, Sofia says that she lived her story with "great lightness and naturalness" from the beginning: "Right from the start, when I was very little, my parents explained to me and my sister how we came into the world For this reason, it was normal for me and I never felt particularly affected or shocked by this thing. Then, as I grew up and told my story to friends, for example, I saw amazement and curiosity and only then did I realize that for For some, PMA represents something strange or particular, but I have never received negative comments nor have I ever felt uncomfortable."
For Sofia, the fact of being born thanks to a laboratory technique has always been a "beautiful thing", for a reason: "Mom and dad always told us how much they wanted us. For a long time they tried to have children and in the end I succeeded thanks to the Pma. This has always seemed to me like a great gift, for them and for us".
In these 20 years, then, "we have always maintained relationships with the doctor who followed my parents' path, Claudia Livi from the Demetra center in Florence, and meeting her was a great emotion for me".
To couples who embark on this path, Sofia sends a message: "Telling the truth to your children right from the start is the best thing, responding to every doubt or fear in a natural way. This way you can fight the prejudice that still sometimes exists. For As far as I'm concerned - he concludes - I would resort to the PMA without fear if one day it became necessary: it is research that is transformed into a concrete benefit for those who need it".
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