The Court of First Instance and Instruction number 1 of Don Benito (Badajoz) has ordered provisional release for three people involved in an alleged illegal adoption that was denounced at the Don Benito-Villanueva Hospital. In order to obtain the newborn baby, a couple of Romanian origin, with difficulties in having a child naturally, had agreed to pay 2,000 euros to a woman (28 years old) of the same nationality, of Romanian origin, who traveled to Extremadura for the childbirth and, by attempting to falsify the documentation in the hospital, sell it to the couple after an agreement reached in Romania three months ago. The man of the marriage is 42 years old and the woman is 43. She had undergone several attempts at in vitro fertilization (IVF) as recorded on her health card, and her lawyer confirmed today, who ensures that the couple thus had a daughter .
The surrogate mother, also detained after childbirth, has not yet gone to court because she suffered dizziness when, after being discharged from the hospital this morning, she was transferred to the Courts to give a statement. The woman had to return to the hospital when she was still convalescing and therefore she did not testify before the judge. In any case, it is expected that a statement will be taken within the 72 hours provided for in the Law, at the moment in which she fully recovers from this fainting spell.
The judge has decreed provisional freedom for the marriage (with the obligation to appear in court on the 1st and 15th of each month, as well as the withdrawal of the passport and the prohibition of approaching the minor less than 150 meters.
The three investigated who have gone to court this morning are the couple of Romanian origin and a 30-year-old brother of the husband. The latter has been the last person who has been arrested in this case accused of collaboration since he was in charge of accompanying the woman on the plane trip that took her from her country to the Madrid airport to then arrive at Don Benito, where the marriage resided. For the brother of the marriage, provisional release has been agreed without obligation to appear.
All of them are being investigated for the alleged crimes of illegal adoption included in article 221 of the Penal Code and document falsification, as reported by the Superior Court of Justice of Extremadura.
Likewise, as a precautionary measure, it has been agreed that the Social Services of the Junta de Extremadura take care of the newborn. The investigation of the case is still open and it is not ruled out that there are more people investigated.
The lawyer Ángel Luis García of the detainees has given a different version of the case than the thesis of the Police. Thus, he has assured that the couple arrested for the alleged purchase of a newborn baby was trying to “help” a friend who did not have a health card to be treated.
In statements to the media at the doors of the courts where the case is being investigated, the lawyer has denied the crime of simulation of childbirth and alteration of paternity attributed to them by the National Police. “It has been a birth in Spanish territory by a Romanian citizen who did not have Social Security and has used a friend’s”, he has wielded. In this sense, he has stressed that the woman had come to Spain for labor reasons and that her husband will soon do so.
The lawyer has indicated that the statement of the alleged father in which he recognized the agents who had paid the amount of 2,000 euros in Romania to buy the newborn is “null” because there was no lawyer present. In addition, he considers that the payment of this amount has not been proven.
Regarding the fainting of the mother who gave birth, the lawyer complained that it was “too soon” after the delivery to be detained and taken to police stations after giving birth at dawn on Tuesday. In addition, the lawyer has denied the collaboration of the fourth person arrested, the brother of the arrested man. The lawyer has clarified that the arrested couple has a daughter after undergoing in vitro fertilization.
On the other hand, the Junta de Extremadura has assured that the baby already has a foster family when the file is processed by emergency regime. The foster family will take care of the baby for a maximum period of 6 months. This was indicated by the Minister of Health and Social Services, José María Vergeles, who explained that the guardianship of the baby will remain in the hands of the Board until the Justice rules on the case.
In this sense, he has indicated that fostering a baby in a family’s care ensures that the stimulation process at that early age allows the minor to have a “full life” in the future, according to the counselor. “With the necessary stimulation, with the necessary socialization, with the necessary affection and that in the future she can develop with better living conditions,” Vergeles pointed out.
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