Statement from Independent Lawyer regarding Argentina Criminal Investigations

Hello everyone, good day.

I am writing this clarification in hopes of providing some clarity about the recent news regarding Surrogacy in Argentina.

The articles we have seen in the news lately refer specifically to a case of a baby girl born in Argentina through an agency abroad and with a specific attorney in charge of the legal process here, in Argentina.

Accordin to the information we have regarding his specific case, the exit process of the baby girl was not properly supervised and the mother did not adjust the migratory status upon arriving in Germany, so in view of the risk to the baby’s health, being an Argentine citizen, the authoritires called the Argentinian Embassy in Germany, who filed the corresponding complaint.

From that point, an ongoing investigation is being carried out by a Court that investigates the crime of human trafficking.

They have requested reports from some fertility clinics, hospitals and notaries.

I was not involved and they have not asked me in particular, but thru my contacts, I was able to have direct contact with the investigation to find out more information.

We have not seen, in the cases in which they have requested reports from colleagues that I know, that there are any irregularities.

We noticed there is a HUGE lack of knowledge from the authorities regarding the legal course of Surrogacy in ArgentinaI, so I I would like to mention two things:

a.- The prosecutor did not know until last Monday of the existence of a precautionary measure that allowed the direct registration of babies in the Civil Registry, so authorities started the investigation from the basis that by registering the child as the child of the intended parents, the crime of identity suppression was committed. First mistake.
On Monday, the prosecutor was informed of the details of the mechanism that was in force until June of 2024.

Even though the mechanism has changed a little since June, the registration of babies that are born via Surrogacy is legal and possible with the appropriate documentation.

b.- In some of the cases about which the prosecutor requested information, I personally intervened in a subsequent judicial stage in which we appeared before a family judge and requested a declaratory judgment of filiation, so those cases have a final judicial judgment in which the entire process was supervised. The prosecutor did not know this either.

However, I would like to state that I cannot confirm that ,in the case of the baby girl in Germany, a crime was not committed because it was not one of MY cases or of any of the colleagues with whom I interact daily.

I must also mention that, unfortunately, the attorney that was mentioned in ALL of the cases that are being investigated (being the main person responsible for the cases under investigation) has taken the time to contact fertility clinics to warn them not to proceed with new processes, has spread FALSE information in groups and communities referring to a certain Agency and has also disseminated papers, communications, declarations and so on, saying that Argentina is a place where surrogacy is prohibited, which IS NOT TRUE.

We are working normally, doing things well and applying high standard protocols.

We are very sorry that Argentina is on everyone’s comments due to the irresponsibility of a few.

I remain available for any questions and/or concerns.

I send you my warmest regards.

Sylvina Sanchez

However, we are aware the clinic, Cegyr are not operating surrogacy treatments at the moment. The rest of the fertility clinics continue as normal.