In Argentina, a new civil code is being put on the congressional table for discussion. The current code was established in 1871 and the changes made to it since have been partial and patchy. To keep with the times, the government has decided to re-address certain aspects of the code in order to update it and give it a “South American vision”. Some of the changes being debated circle around marriage, divorce, adoption, and assisted fertilisation.

These are big adjustments that will affect Argentines for many years to come, so we hit the streets to see what the people think over the proposed reforms and what it will mean for the country.

Portraits by Diego Cupolo.

Nacho Viturro, 37, seller and musician, Pinamar

I think it’s good - surely we need to adapt to new ways. These are rules that have been around for 500 years (sic), rules that are strict and that are being preached by some who abuse their power. Most of it comes from our history as a Catholic nation and those things may not apply anymore. The reform will be good for Argentina to grow, to move away from that. The reform addresses that every life is different and that certain institutions have no right to impose how we should live.

Maria Ofelia, 57, knitter and artisan, Constitución

The change is important to integrate everyone with different lives, different ways of living, and to have the option to choose how to live. Adoption and marriage (especially for homosexuals) are issues that need to be looked at, evaluated and integrated into our civil code. With divorce, each person has the right to say whether or not to stay with someone, it’s the right to choose. You have the right to choose. When it comes to the age of a family who is looking to adopt, being younger does not mean that you are immature. It should depend on the people, on the couple -not the age.

Trinidad González, 60, coffee seller, San Telmo

I do not totally agree with everything that the reform will address or the law in general. I am not for certain marriage unions, but that’s just me. When it comes to being a couple, when it comes to marriage or separating, it’s up to each person in the relationship, how they wish it to be. For me, an important thing is to help those that want to have children with the aid of medicine, to have children. Here, it is expensive, so I think that some help would be good. I have people close to me who are single and want to have children. It’s just not an option for them.

Marcia Lanzrutti, 52, newspaper seller, Lanús

I think the whole thing is great but the one thing I do not agree with is that there is no punishment for those who practice infidelity. I do not understand that, there should be consequences for that. When I am with someone, I am with someone. Everything else that I have read about the reforms, because it is a long list with a lot of big changes to look into, looks good. Choices are important. If you are with someone who treats you badly, you should be able to leave.

Esteban Molina, 37, painter, San Telmo

I am not totally informed about the reforms. I would need to be more informed about the changes to have a proper opinion. I think that changes do need to be made. For a long time, we have been using an outdated code and a more modern way of doing things is important for the evolution of ideas. I think a less conservative way of doing things is good. For example, when someone lives with someone but is not married, they should still have rights as a couple. This thought has been around for a long time, for centuries. We already know these things and it is not an uncommon thought. We would like something a little less structured. It’s a process and debating the new code is a good thing.

A homosexual US citizen and journalist, Chandler Burr, has been told he can adopt two Colombian boys aged 10 and 13, after authorities originally took the children away due to his sexual orientation.

The adoption was finalised in March 2011 but the boys were removed from Burr’s care after the writer casually mentioned he was gay.

Head Colombian bishop, Juan Vicente Cordoba, told the Colombian daily newspaper, El Tiempo, that Burr has a “disorder of sexual identity” which will have repercussions on his relationship with the male children. Though homosexuality was removed from the Psychological manual DSM in 1994, Cordoba argues that homosexuality is universally agreed to be a disorder.

“I do not know him and I am not accusing him of anything, but one thing is clear and that is that he has homosexual tendencies and he is going to receive a boy of 10-years-old and an adolescent of 13, and between them there won’t be a father-son relationship,” he said. “He will receive two children at an age when they may be attractive to him, which could be a temptation”.

The bishop continued to argue that is was not advisable to allow a homosexual man to adopt male children, and that female children may have been safer given the ‘circumstances’.

General Director of the family welfare institute (ICBF), Diego Molano, told the newspaper Colombia Reports that the minors will benefit from living with their adoptive father in the US.

Ten people from the US Southern Baptist Church group, detained for attempting to take 33 Haitian children out the country, may be extradited to the US to stand trial. The group was apprehended last week when trying to take the children into the Dominican Republic.

The group has stated that they believed the children to be orphans and according to their spokesperson Laura Silsby, were “just trying to do the right thing”. However, she admits that they had not acquired the correct adoption papers, passports and birth certificates for the children.

The children have been taken to the SOS children’s village in Santo on the outskirts of Haitan capital Port-au-Prince. According to staff the children were distressed and thirsty. It has since emerged that many of the children have living parents and the SOS village is working to reunite the families.

Haitian prime minister, Max Bellerive ,said: “It is clear now that they were trying to cross the border without papers. It is clear now that some of the children have live parents. What they were doing was wrong.”

He added that he was open to the group being tried in the US because most government buildings, including the courts, have been destroyed in the earthquake. Haitian officials have said that some prosecution is necessary to deter child traffickers.

PJ Crowley, a state department spokesman, said in Washington: “Once we know all the facts, we will determine what the appropriate course is, but the judgment is really up to the Haitian government.”

As a result of the increased risk of child trafficking, all adoptions out of Haiti now have to be personally approved by the prime minister.

Haiti has a history of child trafficking and the earthquake on 12 January has dramatically increased the risk. A UNICEF spokesperson has told the BBC: “Before the earthquake the Haitian government estimated that about 2,000 children a year were trafficked out of Haiti. These children generally find themselves in situations of domestic labour, sexual abuse or illegal adoption. We understand from the Haitian Government that most of them end up in the US and Canada.”

Parents in Argentina say that the government is doing nothing to help them get their adopted Haitian children out of the earthquake-devastated country. Fourteen Argentine families are waiting to be reunited with children they adopted before 12th January, when Haiti was hit by the quake.

Claiming that their repeated requests for assistance have been ignored, many are taking matters into their own hands, and travelling to Haiti or the neighbouring Dominican Republic, in an attempt to be with their children, who are living in rapidly deteriorating conditions. They hope to be able to secure the necessary paperwork – which was lost in the rubble – to take their children out of the country.

One couple, Astrid and Francisco Ramos, returned to Argentina on the morning of 12th January, before the earthquake hit. They are now battling to get back into Haiti, to be reunited with and rescue their nine month-old son, Stephen. They described their situation to CNN: “Stephen is our child…We need to get him out immediately.”

The destruction of Stephen’s adoption papers created a logistical nightmare for the Ramos family and parents around the world, who had started the adoption process before the catastrophe occurred. Stephen is currently healthy and being cared for, but his adoptive parents are worried that worsening conditions in Port-au-Prince could lessen the infant’s chance of survival.

Several countries, like the US and France, fast-tracked the adoption process for their citizens, but according to Francisco, “the lack of response from the Argentine government shows that they are not interested in resolving the problem like other countries have done. So we need to go and see for ourselves how our son is.”

Thousands of Haitian children were orphaned after the quake. Many international agencies have stopped accepting new adoption applications until some semblance of order is restored in the country. However, Argentine families for whom the adoption process was already underway cannot understand why their government has not taken the initiative to get the children into a proper home before it is too late.

Mariela Cavanna explained how her two-year-old adopted son, MacKender, was due to arrive in Argentina from Haiti on 19th January: “In MacKender’s orphanage there were 118 children before the earthquake. Since then, 116 of them have left the country. The only two remaining are the ones adopted by Argentine families.”

The Argentine Foreign Ministry declined interview requests from international press. In a statement released on Tuesday, it said Argentina is complying with a 1989 United Nations agreement regarding procedures for international child adoption, but did not offer any further response to the parent’s request for assistance.

Instead, the 14 Argentine families must for now fight, single-handedly, to be reunited with their children.