They returned to their home country without her.
An Italian couple who used an overseas surrogate allegedly wound up abandoning the baby girl she carried for them and returning to Italy.
According to
reports, the pair had hired the Ukraine-based surrogate to carry their child, then travelled to her country in August 2020 after she gave birth to their daughter.
Ukraine is one of few countries in which commercial surrogacy is legal, with agencies providing surrogacy services to intended parents all over the world.
For unknown reasons, the couple returned to Italy without the newborn shortly after her birth, leaving her in the care of a nanny.
Despite promising to return, they never came back for their daughter. The infant was cared for by the nanny, who raised her as her own up until this week.
Worried about the legal repercussions of not reporting the child left in her care, she contacted the Italian Consulate and said she couldn't afford to keep raising her.
Italian authorities were able to locate the parents, who confirmed they did not intend to retrieve their daughter and bring her home.
A court has since determined that the little girl, now 16 months old, should be put up for adoption in Italy, devastating the nanny.
Last week, the Service for International Police Cooperation and the Italian Consulate in Ukraine organised the child's return to Italy.
Officials from the team who travelled to Ukraine to retrieve the girl found her to be in "good condition" and said that the nanny clearly "loved her very much and took great care of her."
The nanny was reportedly heartbroken and gave the team pictures of the child's early years so that she can see them when she grows up.
On November 11, the tot was flown to Malpensa. She is now in the care of a foster family there as the adoption process gets underway.
It is not yet clear if the child's parents will be prosecuted for allegedly abandoning their baby girl overseas.
