What do we know about the Italians arrested in Argentina with a newborn baby and why the issue of the Gpa universal crime has nothing to do with it

Two men, Italian citizens, were there last Friday stop at Buenos Aires airport while they were trying to return to Italy together with a newborn baby born from Gpa, a pregnancy for others. As reported by the Argentine newspaper The Nationto the authorities, the two – whose identity was not revealed – explained that the pregnancy had been arranged with a 28-year-old Argentine womanresident in Rosario.

The Italians were not arrested, but they were still banned from leaving Argentina. An official involved in the case called the matter “very complicated”, underlining that GPA in Argentina is not regulated (and therefore not even prohibited) and that it is not clear what crime has been committed, nor who should be held responsible. The Nation adds that, according to the authorities, the two Italians and the biological mother of the newborn could be considered victims of an organization that takes advantage of the vulnerability of women in economic difficulty and the desire of couples who cannot have children.

The little girl, born on October 10 in a clinic in Buenos Aires, should have grown up in Italy with the two menas established by the agreements made. Officially, she is the daughter of the woman who gave birth to her and one of the two Italian men, who is an oncologist from Padua. When they were stopped, the couple was traveling with the baby’s biological mother: after having changed the booked flight at the last moment, the four were about to board an Air France night plane.

The alarm was raised last Wednesdaytwo days before the scheduled departure, when a young woman showed up at the airport accompanied by an Italian, declaring that she wanted to authorize the man to travel only with their newborn daughter. However, immigration officials noticed some suspicious detailsincluding an anomalous behavior of the woman with the little girl and her notable disparity compared to the man. The airport authorities asked why there was such a rush to leave and started asking several questions. The couple gave up, and the next day tried to leave again at a different airport. But this time too suspicious elements emerged. Although the travellers’ documents were formally in order, the officials found that the woman lives in a poor area of ​​Rosariowhile the man, resident in Italy, had visited Argentina in August 2023, in March of this year and at the beginning of October: the possibility of a natural conception was therefore to be excluded. Immigration thus notified the court of Lomas de Zamora, which opened a criminal investigation for possible crimes such as human trafficking, sale of minors or appropriation of minors.

Following the report received from the airport authorities, the Argentine federal justice immediately opened an investigation and imposed a ban on expatriation on those involved. And, when the following day the couple gave up on the administrative procedure and simply tried to board a plane, together with the little girl and the Italian’s partner, they were stopped before boarding.

The investigations aim to clarify whether the woman agreed to continue the pregnancy out of pure economic necessity rather than out of altruism, as indicated in the documents. The woman, in fact, is in precarious economic conditionsdoes not have a job, has not completed her studies and is raising a minor daughter alone. “AND in a situation of extreme vulnerability», confirmed the official. The woman herself then confirmed to the investigators that she had received from an organizing company, which had contacted her on Facebook,a promise of ten million pesos (just over 9 thousand euros)and have already received six million. These intermediaries would have received a much higher sum than that paid to the young woman, and would have followed and organized all the medical tests and procedures.

In recent times, Argentine justice has intensified checks on cases of surrogacy, suspecting that they may hide forms of exploitation or human trafficking. This, however, is the first case in which a couple has been stopped before being able to leave the country with their child.

In Italy, meanwhile, gestation for others became a universal crime from 16 Octoberand the law punishes Italian couples who resort to this practice even abroad. The arrest of the two men, however, does not derive from the “universal crime” launched by the Meloni government, but from the normal controls of the Argentine authorities.