'Italians held in Argentina over baby born via surrogacy'

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 31 - Two Italian citizens have been arrested at the airport of Buenos Aires, Argentina, where they were scheduled to take a flight back to Italy with a baby born via surrogacy, according to local press reports.
    La Nacion reported the story on Wednesday, without identifying the two men who, after their arrest on Friday, admitted that the baby girl had been carried by a woman from the city of Rosario.
    The baby, who was born on October 10 at a clinic in the Argentine capital, would then have been raised by the couple in Italy, the newspaper reported.
    "This is a very difficult case", a local official working on the case was quoted as saying, adding that "the issue is not regulated" in Argentina.
    The local newspaper said investigators are not focusing on the Italian couple, who have been ordered not to leave the country, nor the woman who gave birth to the girl, but an organization allegedly exploiting women in need and people want a child via surrogacy.
    Since October 16, surrogacy has become a "universal crime" in Italy, even if it takes place in countries where it is legal, with Italian couples, including the two men held in Argentina, risking up to two years in jail and fines of between 600,000 and one million euros. (ANSA).