Life · Article
Genoa Mayor Silvia Salis Says Son Was Conceived Through Assisted Reproduction
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In brief
Silvia Salis, the mayor of Genoa, has disclosed for the first time that her son Eugenio was conceived through assisted reproduction, in a memoir published on October 13, 2026. Salis, 41, says she and her husband, director Fausto Brizzi, tried to conceive for a year before turning to fertility treatment, and the couple chose to give their son only her surname.
Silvia Salis, the mayor of Genoa, has spoken publicly for the first time about how her son was conceived, writing in a new memoir that she and her husband used assisted reproduction after a year of trying to conceive naturally. The book, titled "È già domani" ("Tomorrow Has Already Come"), was published by Feltrinelli on October 13, 2026.
A year of trying, then assisted reproduction
According to excerpts reported by Italian outlets, Salis and her husband, screenwriter and director Fausto Brizzi, tried for about a year to have a child. Both underwent medical tests that came back normal, yet pregnancy did not occur, prompting the couple to turn to medically assisted reproduction, known in Italy as fecondazione assistita or PMA.
Salis describes the process as emotionally demanding rather than purely clinical. She writes that assisted reproduction is "an extraordinary technology, but never merely a technical matter" and calls it "a complex emotional experience" in which each step confronts a person with vulnerability.
Why Eugenio carries only his mother's surname
The couple's son, born in October 2023, was named Eugenio and given only his mother's surname, Salis. The mayor and Brizzi describe this as a deliberate choice made possible by a 2022 ruling of Italy's Constitutional Court, which ended the previous default rule that automatically assigned a child the father's surname.
Salis says the decision also carries personal weight: Eugenio is named after her own father, a former sailor, who lived for about eighteen months after his grandson's birth before he died.
Why she is speaking about it now
There is nothing to be ashamed of.
Salis frames her decision to describe the fertility treatment publicly, for the first time, as a deliberate break with the silence that often surrounds the topic. In the book she also references U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's disclosure in August 2026 about freezing her eggs as a comparable example of a public figure speaking openly about fertility.
From Olympic hammer thrower to mayor of Genoa
Salis, born September 17, 1985, competed internationally for Italy as a hammer thrower, reaching two Olympic Games, in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, and winning gold at the 2009 Mediterranean Games in Pescara before retiring from competition in 2016. She later moved into sports administration, becoming vice president of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) in 2021. She married Brizzi in 2020 and was elected mayor of Genoa on May 26, 2025, as the centre-left coalition's candidate, winning 51.48% of the vote.
Assisted reproduction in Italy's demographic debate
Salis's account arrives as Italy records some of its lowest birth figures on record. Demographic data cited alongside coverage of her book put the scale of both the fertility gap and the role assisted reproduction now plays in Italian births.
| Indicator | Figure |
|---|---|
| Births in 2025 | 355,000 (down 3.9% year on year) |
| Deaths in 2025 | 652,000 |
| Natural population change | -296,000 |
| Average age at first motherhood | 32.7 years nationally; 33.1 in Central Italy |
| Children born outside marriage | 45.8% of births |
| Assisted-reproduction births | 17,235, or about 4.5%-4.6% of all Italian births |
| Couples facing infertility | About 15% in Italy; WHO estimates 17.5% globally |
Several Italian lawmakers have also proposed public funding for fertility-related procedures. Reported proposals include a 100-million-euro fund from Italia Viva leader Matteo Renzi to cover free egg freezing for women aged 25 to 38, a plan from Democratic Party lawmaker Gian Antonio Girelli to add cryopreservation to Italy's essential healthcare package, and regional funding already allocated in Puglia, Lazio and Tuscany.
Questions
- Who is Silvia Salis?
- Silvia Salis is the mayor of Genoa, elected in May 2025 as the centre-left coalition's candidate with 51.48% of the vote. She is a former Olympic hammer thrower who competed in 2008 and 2012 and later served as vice president of Italy's National Olympic Committee (CONI).
- How was Silvia Salis's son conceived?
- Salis says she and her husband, director Fausto Brizzi, tried to conceive naturally for about a year without success despite normal test results for both, and then turned to medically assisted reproduction. Their son, Eugenio, was born in October 2023.
- Why does Eugenio have only his mother's surname?
- Salis and Brizzi chose to give their son only her surname, Salis, a choice made possible by a 2022 Italian Constitutional Court ruling that ended the automatic assignment of the father's surname to children.
- What is the book 'È già domani' about?
- It is Silvia Salis's memoir, published by Feltrinelli on October 13, 2026, in which she describes for the first time her fertility treatment, her son's birth and her path into politics.
- How common is assisted reproduction in Italy?
- Assisted-reproduction births accounted for roughly 4.5% to 4.6% of all Italian births, or 17,235 births, according to figures reported alongside coverage of Salis's story, while an estimated 15% of Italian couples face infertility.
How the world is telling it
- ItalianItalian outlets frame Salis's disclosure as a notable instance of a sitting mayor breaking taboo around infertility and assisted reproduction, linking her personal account to the wider national debate over Italy's falling birth rate, the 2022 surname ruling, and proposals to fund egg freezing and fertility treatment.
Sources
- Open — Silvia Salis e la scelta della fecondazione assistita per il figlio che porta solo il cognome della madre
- Adnkronos Demografica — "Il tempo non aspetta", il racconto della sindaca di Genova Silvia Salis e il monito su fecondazione e maternità
- Blitz Quotidiano — Silvia Salis e la maternità: "Mio figlio è arrivato con la fecondazione assistita"
- Wikipedia — Silvia Salis
This piece was prepared with artificial intelligence and passed an automated source check before publication. If you see an error, ask for a correction. Request a correction or reply · How we make this
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