Viral photo taken in Ontario delivery room leads to contentious court battle in Italy

The day Milo was born at Kingston General Hospital, back in June 2014, Lindsay Foster was in her element. The professional photographer had captured her good friend, a surrogate, giving birth to a baby boy with his two fathers nearby.

As Milo came into the world, fathers Rosario Barone and Frank Nelson cried. They hugged. Overwhelmed with emotion, they barely noticed Foster as she snapped the moment of immense joy. The Gananoque native knew what she had was beauty captured in an instant.

Shared on social media during Pride month, the photo would go viral around the world.

Then it was then used by Italy’s far-right political party, Fratelli d’Italia, and its leader (and current Prime Minister of Italy) Giorgia Meloni. According to a translated Italian judgment, they took the image and added the slogan, “He can never say mom — the rights to be defended are those of the child,” and used it to support a campaign against LGBTQ+ communities using surrogacy.