00:03This should be the most joyful time, but instead this family is trapped and desperate.
00:11We have no idea how to get out of this situation.
00:15It's a struggle every day.
00:17Australian couple Amy and Jonathan Carr-Knox are preparing for their daughter's first birthday
00:22in Argentina, but the only gift they want is to bring her home to Australia.
00:27It's not how we wanted to raise a baby.
00:31We're isolated from all our friends, our family, from any community.
00:37They landed in the capital Buenos Aires 12 months ago when Sophie was born via a surrogacy
00:43arrangement using the couple's embryo.
00:46Argentina had become a popular destination for hopeful parents pursuing international
00:51surrogacy, where the process operated in a legal grey area.
00:55Prior to about May 2024, surrogacy in Argentina allowed for both biological and intended parents
01:02to be named on the birth certificate.
01:04But in 2024, with the increase in surrogacy births in Argentina, ethical concerns prompted
01:10a change in the process.
01:12It essentially meant that the surrogate is named as a parent on the birth certificate,
01:16which then made it difficult for intended parents to both be recognised on the birth certificate,
01:21and also for immigration and citizenship purposes for leaving the country.
01:26Amy and Jonathan can't leave the country with their daughter because neither of their names
01:30is on her birth certificate.
01:32Ten months ago, the couple began a court case in Argentina to change that, with the support
01:37of the surrogate mother.
01:39Their case has been complicated by paperwork errors in their surrogacy agreement, prepared
01:45by their international agency.
01:47People that are travelling for surrogacy really need to consider how they protect their own
01:51rights and welfare, because there are very limited protections available from anywhere else
01:56in the world.
01:57Amy and Jonathan aren't able to work, and they're running out of money.
02:01We are just scraping by.
02:03We are just surviving.
02:04The couple say the Australian government has been providing them with consular assistance,
02:09but the government is unable to intervene in the Argentine legal system.
02:14Despite their dire situation, Amy and Jonathan refuse to leave without their daughter.
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