The Australian government has issued a warning today to would-be parents attempting surrogacy in Argentina.
"Argentine authorities may consider surrogacy arrangements to be illegal," the government-run Smart Traveller website said in a new alert.
"You may be refused entry to Argentina if taking part in a surrogacy arrangement."
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What prompted today's announcement remains unclear, but surrogacy has increasingly come to the attention of authorities in recent years amid allegations that wealthy nations are fuelling a demand that is leading to exploitation of vulnerable women.
In April 2024, intended parents with surrogacy arrangements in Argentina were left in the lurch when Buenos Aires paused the issue of birth certificates for babies born through surrogacy, leaving parents with undocumented newborn babies.
While surrogacy in Argentina is not explicitly illegal, it remains largely unregulated and operates in a grey area.
In October 2024, Argentine prosectors said they had uncovered a "criminal enterprise" which had been charging foreign couples $50,000 for a baby born via surrogacy.
They accused the surrogacy ring of exploiting vulnerable women, denying payments for miscarriages and "commercialising" babies.
Smart Traveller's warning urged Australians to get comprehensive and independent legal advice from an Argentine lawyer with specialisation in this area before attempting to travel there for a surrogacy arrangement.
Australian parents have been caught up in a number of legal battles over surrogates and their babies in recent years, including accusations of human trafficking and forced surrogacy involving 169 surrogates in Greece in 2023.
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