It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Another Russian Anti-War Activist Forced To Leave Serbia, NGO Says
Russian anti-war activist Anton Bobryshev (file photo)
Another Russian anti-war activist has been denied a requestfor a temporary residency permit in Serbia and ordered to leave the country, the Russian Democratic Society announced on October 16.
The organization said in a statement that the decision showed that the "persecution of Russian citizens in Serbia due to their anti-war views unfortunately continues."
The Serbian Interior Ministry (MUP) on September 16 rejected Anton Bobryshev's request for a temporary residency permit based on ownership of real estate and ordered him to leave the country within 30 days.
Three days later, the MUP issued a new decision ordering him to leave the country within 30 days.
Petr Nikitin of the Russian Democratic Society told RFE/RL that Bobryshev filed appeals against both decisions.
Bobryshev's lawyer also submitted a request to the Administrative Court to postpone the order to leave the country, which could not be carried out while the appeal process on the refusal of temporary residence is ongoing.
Nikitin said Bobryshev participated in anti-war rallies in Belgrade and organized a rally in June 2023 in Pancevo, a city northeast of Belgrade, in support of opposition politician and Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny, who died in prison in Russia in February.
RFE/RL asked the MUP to clarify the decision not to allow Bobryshev to stay temporarily in Serbia but did not receive an answer.
Bobryshev and his wife moved to Serbia eight years ago.
The cancellation of the temporary residency permits of certain members of the Russian diaspora who participated in anti-war protests began in the summer of 2023 after the United States imposed sanctions on the then-director of the Security Agency (BIA), Aleksandar Vulin, due to his ties to Russia and other things.
In July 2023, a temporary residency permit was denied to anti-war activist Vladimir Volokhonsky, and then a month later to Yevgeny Irzansky. Both had expressed a clear anti-war attitude toward Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In both cases, the MUP said that there were "security obstacles" to extending their stay.
In March 2024, the MUP refused to issue a permanent residency permit to the three-member Russian family Tereh. The reason for the refusal was also linked to security.
A more recent example is the case of Yelena Koposova, a Russian citizen whose application for permanent residence was rejected for the second time in August. The MUP explained the decision by saying that the security service had data "which is an obstacle to the approval of its request."
Koposova, a literary translator from St. Petersburg, moved to Serbia with her husband and two children in 2019 and purchased a house.
The police and the BIA have not responded to RFE/RL's inquiries since the banning of Russian citizens who oppose the war began in the summer of 2023.
Serbia has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia for 2 1/2 years, and Serbian officials are among the few in Europe who meet with Kremlin officials.
Animal Life Discovered Below The Seafloor at Hydrothermal Vents
The discovery of animal life below the seafloor at hydrothermal vents in the East Pacific Rise is reported in a Nature Communications paper. The research sheds new light on the complex habitats that are found in the deep ocean.
The East Pacific Rise is a volcanically active ridge located where two tectonic plates meet on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. It contains numerous hydrothermal vents — openings in the seafloor that form where seawater and magma beneath the Earth’s crust meet.
Previous research has focused on organisms living on the seafloor around these vents, including tubeworms and mussels, but the possibility of animal life existing below the shallow seafloor crust has remained largely unexplored.
Monika Bright, Sabine Gollner and colleagues sailing on the Schmidt Ocean Institute research vessel Falkortoo embarked on a series of dives to a hydrothermal vent site located at 2,515 m depth on the East Pacific Rise using the remotely operated vehicle SuBastian.
When exposing sections of the seafloor crust using a large chisel with the arms of the vehicle, they uncovered warm, fluid-filled cavities inhabited by various species previously only found on the seafloor, including giant tubeworms and mobile animals such as worms and snails.
The authors suggest that larvae from seafloor communities may settle in these subseafloor habitats, indicating a complex connectivity between seafloor and subseafloor ecosystems.
The discovery of animal habitats in the crustal subseafloor, the extent of which is currently unknown, increases the urgency for protections against potential future environmental changes, the authors suggest.
a Tubeworm clumps growing on lobate lava shelf at surface and in cracks (dive S0543). b Lobate lava with three uppermost shelves and cavities shown, lava drips (arrow) at the roof of shelves (dive S0560). c Six subsurface cavities visible after lifting of lava shelves (recovery dives 1, S0552; 2, S0554; 3, S0556; 4, S0557; 5, S0558; 6, S0560). d Opened subseafloor cavity with bottom covered by white microbial mat and live Paralvinella spp. (asterisk) and large Riftia pachyptila (arrow), roof with alive and tubes of Oasisia alvinae (double arrow) (dive S0556). e,f Recovered lava shelf shown upside-down, with O. alvinae wrapped around lava drips protruding from the ceiling of the opened crustal subseafloor cavity (dive S0552). g Upside-down lava shelf with O. alvinae mostly growing from crack downwards into cavity (dive S0560). h Upside-down lava shelf with R. pachyptila growing from crack upwards towards the seafloor (dive S0552). m = meter; cm = centimeter; mm = millimeter. — Nature
Osmotic Energy Conversion Discovered in Hydrothermal Vents Provides Clues to Life’s Beginnings
Press Release
Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI)
October 1, 2024
Vector plots showing the direction and intensity of the preferred orientation of the (001) plane. The diffraction patterns at two different locations (line scans) were analyzed and plotted. — ELSI
Researchers experimentally demonstrated that hydrothermal vent precipitates, located deep in the ocean, contains aligned nanopores that enable selective ion transport, thus facilitating osmotic energy conversion from ion gradients. A key finding is that selective ion transport, typically associated with biological cell membranes, can occur through naturally formed inorganic nanostructures in geochemical settings.
This discovery offers new insights into how life-sustaining energy harvesting processes can arise abiotically from long-lasting chemical disequilibria in deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Additionally, it highlights potential strategies for developing blue energy technologies utilising salinity gradients.
In the deep sea, where sunlight cannot reach, massive structures known as hydrothermal vents (HVs) rise from the ocean floor. These chimney-like structures continuously release hot water containing various metal ions into the cold seawater, gradually growing over time, sometimes reaching heights of up to 60 meters. These vents also support a unique ecosystem distinct from that on the Earth’s surface.
A deep-sea hydrothermal vent with aligned nanopores enabling selective ion transport and ion gradient energy conversion. Credit: Reproduced from Lee et al., Nat. Commun. 2024
In recent years, similar structures have been discovered not only on Earth but also on ice-covered celestial bodies like Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Since HVs may exist on ancient Earth before life emerged, researchers believe they may have played a crucial role as “natural chemical synthesis systems,” potentially contributing to the origin of life on Earth.
An international team led by researchers from the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) and RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science studied HV samples collected from the “Shinkai Seep Field,” located on the northwestern slope of the Mariana Trench, one of the deepest trenches on Earth, at a depth of approximately 5,700 meters. Alkaline hot water generated from the reaction between olivine and water forms white smoker-type HVs primarily composed of a mineral called brucite, which has a plate-like structure (Figure 2a).
Microscopic observations of the collected samples revealed that small plate-like crystals, approximately 100 nanometers in size, assembled to form a thick membrane, creating a pathway for hot vent water and seawater (Figure 2b). These membranes exhibited periodic stripe patterns, originating from the stacked multiple layers, and grew to a thickness of 200 to 400 micrometers (Figures 2c, d, e).
a Photograph of HV precipitates collected from the Shinkai Seep Field. b, c Cross-polarized optical microscope images of vertical (b) and horizontal slices of HV (cross-section, c). In the horizontal slice image, vent fluid channels and periodic line patterns in the HV wall are indicated as yellow asterisks and red arrows, respectively. d–g SEM images of a naturally cleaved HV fragment. d, e Inorganic walls with different cleavage directions. The walls show stratified structures, with the layers following the shape of the wall. f Magnification of the wall (boxed area in e) revealing a sublayer structure with consolidated features. g Sublayer structures in different locations of walls. Sublayers 2 to 5-µm thick (yellow square brackets) constituted the wall and exhibited a uniaxial texture. The uniaxial features result from the array of multiple nanocrystals shown in the inset. h TEM image of the crystals constituting the sublayers. i HAADF-STEM image of the crystal with nanopores visible inside. — Nat. Commun. 2024
The researchers conducted synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiments to investigate the structure of the mineral membranes in detail. Multiple regions of the sample were scanned with X-rays, and the directions with the strongest diffraction intensity were indicated with arrows (Figure 3a). In this figure, the alignment direction of the brucite crystals is colour-coded. Remarkably, throughout the scanned sample, the plate-like brucite nanocrystals were found to be orderly and continuously arranged, radiating outward from the vent fluid channel to the seawater (Figure 3b). This arrangement confirmed that nanopore structures suitable for ion transport were formed throughout the entire sample, which has a height of 80 cm.
a An optical image of an HV slice (above) and its corresponding 3D map of scattering intensity (below). In the 3D intensity map, the scattering intensity at individual scanning points was integrated and converted into single values. b–e WAXS analysis on the HV wall sample. b Optical image of the scanning area. c Selected brucite 001 diffraction patterns at multiple points (red squares in b). Black double-headed arrows show the preferred orientation direction of the brucite (001) plane. Schematic images showing the preferred orientation of the brucite layers are shown below the diffraction patterns. The crystal structure of brucite consists of an edge-shared MgO6 layer in the (001) plane and a layered hydroxide stack along the c-axis. d Vector plots showing the direction and intensity of the preferred orientation of the (001) plane. The diffraction patterns at two different locations (line scans) were analyzed and plotted. The black lines in (b) show the location of the line scan. The color and length of the vectors represent the value of the highest scattering intensity of the asymmetric ring. The direction of the vector indicates the orientation of the strongest intensity axis of the asymmetric ring and shows the preferred orientation direction. e 2D map of the vector plot overlayed on the optical image shown in (b). f Schematic of the brucite (001) plane arrangement around the channel based on the WAXS/SAXS scanning and POM analysis. The corresponding c-axis of brucite is also shown. — Nat. Commun. 2024
To validate this hypothesis, they immersed the samples in environments with varying concentrations of ions such as sodium and potassium present in seawater, examining ion transport (Figure 4a). The results showed that the surface charges of the nanopores allowed the entire HV structure to function as a selective ion transport material, converting differences in concentrations of sodium ions, potassium ions, chloride ions, and hydrogen ions into electrical energy (Figure 4b). This suggests that natural HVs may function as osmotic power generation systems, selectively transporting diverse ions from seawater to generate electrical energy.
All living beings generate energy by leveraging ion concentration differences within their cells. Therefore, the question of how life began to utilise this mechanism is a crucial in the origins of life. The results of this study demonstrate that energy conversion utilizing ions essential for life can occur naturally through geological processes.
Concentration differences of ions are widely observed in nature, and similar phenomena may have taken place on ancient Earth before the emergence of life. Additionally, recent research has confirmed hydrothermal activity on ice-covered celestial bodies. In the future, samples from these celestial bodies may be brought back to Earth for detailed analysis, potentially revealing similar structures and energy generation phenomena.
Dolphins breathe in microplastics and it could be damaging their lungs
Dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico have tiny bits of plastic in their breath, and this is probably a worldwide problem
By James Woodford 16 October 2024 A wild bottlenose dolphin having a health assessment Todd Speakman/National Marine Mammal Foundation, MMPA/ESA Permit No. 18786-03 and 24359 CC-BY 4.0
Dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico are inhaling microplastics, which could lead to lung problems.
Researchers at the College of Charleston in South Carolina carried out routine catch-and-release health assessments on five bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from Sarasota Bay, Florida, and six from Barataria Bay, Louisiana, in May and June 2023.
As part of the checks, they held a petri dish above the animals’ blowholes, looking for any tiny bits of plastic in their breath.
To make sure these dishes weren’t simply picking up microplastics floating in the air anyway, the researchers held a second petri dish away from the blowholes to collect control samples.
They found that all of the dolphins exhaled microplastics. Fifty-four such pieces were collected in total, each smaller than 500 microns.
This shows that dolphins are breathing in microplastics, says team member Miranda Dziobak. “These particles are everywhere, regardless of urbanisation and human development.”
Dziobak expects similar results would occur in other parts of the world. “Microplastics are super small and super lightweight, which makes them easy to transport,” she says. “Some researchers have shown microplastics can travel through the air for thousands of miles.”
The team didn’t investigate whether these particles were harming the dolphins, but previous research suggests they could be.
“What we know from human studies is that inhaling microplastics can lead to lung inflammation and other respiratory problems” says Dziobak. “Since we observed similar particles in the exhaled breath of dolphins as have been reported in humans, dolphins might also be at risk for lung problems.”
Nina Wootton at the University of Adelaide in Australia says she would be interested to know exactly how these microplastics could be impacting dolphins. “A lot of research indicates that although health impacts are known to occur, the microplastics have to contaminate the animal in quite high concentrations,” she says.
“Finding microplastics in marine species is now unfortunately a norm, and most specimens that are investigated commonly have them. Dolphins are often an indicator of marine ecosystem health, so this finding supports the fact that microplastics really are ubiquitous.”
A pilot project run by the salmon farming company Eide Fjordbruck is a closed pen tank that holds 200,000 salmon. The closed pen protects the salmon from sea lice and prevents the salmon inside from escaping and interbreeding with wild salmon. The waste of the salmon is transported to a biogas tank, where its used to make energy.
Rob Schmitz/NPR
Norway is the largest exporter of salmon in the world. And while some of those fish are wild-caught, many are raised in "fish farms"- large cylindrical pens made of nylon in the open water. Sometimes these farmed fish escape, mixing with the local population and causing ecological issues. We see farmed fish in a Norwegian fjord and hear about potential solutions to the problem.
Global north’s growing appetite for farmed salmon imperils communities’ access to local fish
A new paper published today in Science Advances exposes the global aquaculture sector’s growing dependence on wild fish.
Despite industry claims to the contrary, these findings highlight how the growing appetite for expensive farmed salmon can leave coastal communities struggling to access affordable local fish like sardines and anchovies. Instead, these small pelagic fish are frequently caught, processed, and “reduced” to fishmeal and fish oil, almost all of which is used to feed farmed fish. These ‘reduction fisheries’ account for 26% of global ocean catch.
“As the aquaculture industry grows, so does its dependence on wild fish,” said Dr. Kathryn Matthews, Oceana Chief Scientist and one of the authors of the paper. “The continued rapid expansion of the sector will demand ever more fishmeal and fish oil, even as its use in feed becomes more efficient.”
The authors, which also include Dr. Patricia Majluf, Associate Professor with the Center for Environmental Sustainability at the Cayetano Heredia University and former Oceana Vice President in Peru; Dr. Daniel Pauly, Oceana Board Member, fisheries scientist, and principal investigator at Sea Around Us; Oceana Senior Analyst Dr. Daniel Skerritt; and Dr. Maria Lourdes D. Palomares, Senior Scientist and Research Unit Manager at Sea Around Us, debunk the industry’s use of the “Fish-in-Fish-out” (FIFO) ratio – the standard metric used to quantify how much wild fish is used to produce farmed fish. The FIFO ratio is often used as an indicator of the impact of aquaculture on wild fish stocks.
In the paper, the authors showcase several misleading practices about the FIFO ratio, such as averaging fishmeal and fish oil inputs of carnivores and herbivores together to conceal the high feed requirements of carnivorous species. This lowers the FIFO ratio, reaffirming the aquaculture industry’s claim that its dependence on fish oil and fishmeal is decreasing. But fish oil, especially, is a limited commodity that is increasingly in demand by salmon farms, which now supply 70% of all salmon consumed worldwide. In 2020, farmed Atlantic salmon alone accounted for 60% of fish oil usage, the authors calculated.
“The salmon industry is a not a food production system – it’s a food reduction system. It benefits the few who can afford it, but reduces access to nutritious fish for those who need it the most,” said Dr. Matthews.
For example, processing plants in West Africa are exploiting vast amounts of small pelagic, highly nutritious fish, mostly sardinella, to produce fishmeal and fish oil for export. “This is an equity issue – it puts local fishmongers at an unfair disadvantage because they cannot compete with the prices the plants are willing to pay for this global commodity,” Dr. Skerritt said.
Additionally, the authors note the turbulent future ahead for fishmeal and fish oil production. Climate change is impacting fish populations around the world, including the main source of fishmeal and fish oil – the Peruvian anchoveta. Like many others, this species in warmer waters contains less fish oil. Moreover, continued poor management of these fisheries allows for ever higher catches of juveniles, which also contain less oil. “Combined, these factors are driving feed manufacturers to look elsewhere for additional oil, including in fisheries which typically provide fish for direct human consumption, like mackerel,” said Dr Majluf.
For these reasons, the authors urge the industry to operationalize substitutes for fishmeal and especially fish oil in aquaculture fish feeds.
This paper is part of a special issue of Science Advances dedicated to aquaculture, which also includes an analysis about the need for greater transparency in aquaculture subsidy reporting by Dr. Rashid Sumaila, an Oceana Board Member and fisheries economist.
Italy’s “disgusting” new law makes it virtually impossible for LGBTQ+ couples to have kids
The move is part of far-right Prime Minister Georgia Meloni's quest to purge gay parents from the country.
LGBTQ NATION Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
In Italy on Wednesday, the Italian Senate pushed forward the West’s most restrictive ban on international surrogacy, making it a crime punishable by prison time for Italians to use surrogates in another country. The move closes the door on same-sex couples’ last, best option to start a family in the country.
The far-right government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had already banned both surrogacy and domestic or international adoption by same-sex couples in Italy.
The legislation amending existing Italian law would classify surrogacy as a universal crime transcending borders and impose a two-year prison sentence and a million-euro fine for defying it. The law also criminalizes work by Italian doctors, nurses and technicians in foreign fertility clinics that provide surrogacy services.
The legislation amending existing Italian law would classify surrogacy as a universal crime transcending borders and impose a two-year prison sentence and a million-euro fine for defying it. The law also criminalizes work by Italian doctors, nurses and technicians in foreign fertility clinics that provide surrogacy services.
Last year, Meloni’s government barred Italian cities and towns from accepting birth certificates that list same-sex parents, denying their children access to citizenship, public schooling and healthcare. That edict is tied up in court.
The Senate’s passage of the anti-surrogacy law, 84 to 58, follows approval by the government’s lower house last year, virtually assuring its enactment.
Meloni has made “traditional values” a cornerstone of her tenure leading the Brothers of Italy party, despite being a single mother who never married. The far-right populist league was founded on the ruins of Benito Mussolini’s Republican Fascist Party in the aftermath of World War II.
“It’s like a truck hitting us in the face,” Pierre Molena, a gay man pursuing surrogacy abroad with his partner, told The New York Times.
“We are worried about our future and that of our children,” he said.
“It is nature that decides this, not us,” Sen. Susanna Campione, who voted in favor of the law, told the The Washington Post.
“This is a civilized law that safeguards the child but also the woman, since we believe that surrogacy essentially reduces a woman to a reproductive machine.”
While most U.S. states and Canada allow the practice, surrogacy has become a flashpoint in Europe. Germany and France ban domestic surrogacy, while it’s legal in the United Kingdom and Greece under certain circumstances. Pope Francis has labeled the practice “womb renting,” and called for a global ban.
About 250 couples a year in Italy pursue international surrogacy, according to legal experts. Ten percent of those couples are same-sex.
“This law is disgusting,” Salvatore Scarpa told the The Post. The gay dad and his partner had a daughter with a surrogate based in California last year and plan to have a second child with the same woman. They have an implantation planned for this month.
“They cannot stop our family. How dare they judge us,” he said.
Alessandra Maiorino, a member of Italy’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement, said the new law stigmatizes children already born to gay couples as well, telling lawmakers who voted for it: “It looks like you don’t realize these people already exist.”
Italy expands its ban on surrogacy to overseas as critics say it targets same-sex couples
Italians seeking surrogacy in countries such as the United States or Canada, where the practice is legal, can face up to two years in jail and up to $1.1 million in fines.
Photo by: Alessandra Tarantino / AP People hold banners reading "we are families not crimes" during a pro-surrogacy flash-mob in Rome.
Italy on Wednesday criminalized citizens who go abroad to have children through surrogacy, a measure slammed by opponents as "medieval" and discriminatory to same-sex couples.
The measure extending a surrogacy ban in place since 2004 was promoted by Premier Giorgia Meloni's far-right Brothers of Italy party and its conservative coalition partner, the League, asserting that it protects women’s dignity.
The Senate passed the bill 84-58 after a seven-hour debate, the final step in the process after the Lower House's approval last year.
Italians seeking surrogacy in countries such as the United States or Canada, where the practice is legal, can face up to two years in jail and up to $1.1 million in fines.
The surrogacy ban applies equally to all couples. But same-sex parent advocates say it hits gay families particularly hard in a country struggling with record-low birthrates and where only heterosexual couples are allowed to adopt.
Same-sex marriages are also banned in Italy, and LGBTQ+ couples have been fighting to obtain parental rights for the partner who is not the biological parent.
Several lawmakers and LGBTQ+ activists protested in front of the Senate to oppose the law, some holding banners that read: “Parents, not criminals."
"When protectionism prevails, a social phenomenon is not erased," opposition lawmaker Riccardo Magi said during the protest. "It is simply relegated to a dark area, which the law doesn't reach. In that case, it’s easier for exploitation, abuse and rights violations to prevail."
"We are very saddened because Italy has once again missed an opportunity to demonstrate that it is a country in line with what Europe and the world are," said Cristiano Giraldi, the father of two 10-year-old children born from a surrogate mother in the U.S.
The Catholic Church has strongly opposed surrogacy in Italy and abroad, with Pope Francis calling for a universal ban and criticizing what he called the “commercialization” of pregnancy.
At the same time, the Vatican’s doctrine office has made clear that same-sex parents who resort to surrogacy can have their children baptized.
While commercial surrogacy contracts are common in the U.S. — including protections for mothers, guarantees of independent legal representation and medical coverage — they are banned in parts of Europe including Spain and Italy.
Italy bans couples from travelling abroad for surrogacy
Maia Davies BBC News EPA The move is part of the socially conservative agenda of Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
Italy has made it illegal for couples to go abroad to have a baby through surrogacy.
The move extends a ban on the practice inside the country to also include those who seek it out in places where it is legal, like the US or Canada. Those who break the law could face up to two years in prison and fines of up to €1m (£835,710).
The law, proposed by the Italy's far-right governing party, is seen by critics to target LGBT couples - who are not allowed to adopt or use IVF in the country.
Surrogacy is when a woman carries a pregnancy for another couple or individual, usually due to fertility issues or because they are men in a same-sex relationship.
The law passed by 84 votes to 58 in Italy's senate on Wednesday.
In a protest ahead of the vote, the law's opponents said it made it harder for people to become parents - despite the country's declining birth rate.
"If someone has a baby they should be given a medal”, LGBT activist Franco Grillini told the Reuters news agency at the demonstration.
“Here instead you are sent to jail... if you don't have children in the traditional way.
"This is a monstrous law. No country in the world has such a thing."
Meloni has described surrogacy as "a symbol of an abominable society that confuses desire with rights and replaces God with money".
Her deputy, Matteo Salvini, has also called the practice an "aberration" that treats women like an "ATM".
The MP that drafted Wednesday's ban previously denied that it was designed to harm LGBT people: "Most people who use surrogacy are heterosexual.”
It would “protect women and their dignity”, said Carolina Varchi.
Experts told the BBC that 90% of the couples who use surrogacy in Italy are straight, and many of them hide the fact that they have gone abroad to have a baby.
But same-sex families returning to Italy with a child cannot hide in the same way.
Surrogacy laws around the world Italy, Spain, France and Germany are among the European countries which outlaw all forms of surrogacy. In the UK, it is illegal to pay for surrogacy beyond the surrogate's reasonable expenses. The surrogate will be registered on the birth certificate until parenthood is transferred via a parental order. In Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and the Czech Republic, it's not possible to get a court to enforce a surrogacy agreement. This is the same in the UK, where a court will decide what is in the best interest of the child if there is a disagreement. Greece accepts foreign couples and provides legal protection to the intended parents - the surrogate has no legal rights over the child - however Greece insists there should be a woman in the relationship (thus excluding gay couples or single men). The US and Canada allow surrogacy for same-sex couples, and recognise them as the legal parents from birth.
EPA