Even as its own population is declining partly because women are unable or unwilling to have enough babies, Ukraine is becoming known internationally as a mecca of surrogate mothers.
Besides the satisfaction of helping infertile and other couples achieve the miracle of birth, Ukrainian women say they are attracted by the considerable financial rewards. But risks also come with rewards in these largely unregulated transactions and Ukrainian law offers little protection for either side.
Three years ago, 31-year-old Kyivite Natalia decided to help an English couple have a baby. The mother of three children, Natalia – who did not want her last name used – needed the money. And she got it, $45, 000 in all.
“First, I was afraid and for hesitated almost a year, but my doctor told me there is nothing bad if, for some money, I give birth to a child for other people,” Natalia said. “My first pregnancy did not let me even finish school. When I was pregnant for the third time my husband left me. I did not know what to do and the money that the government gives us is not enough to pay for even the flat.”
Today, there are more than 30 clinics of reproductive medicine in Ukraine, eight of which are in Kyiv. One local clinic said 60 women this year alone have become surrogate mothers there. And providing services for them is a rising part of the business, doctors say.
“Out of 10 Ukrainian couples, two cannot have a baby themselves,” said Tetyana Vinnyk, a Kyiv maternity welfare center employee. “The infertility problem is increasing because of bad habits like smoking, drinking alcohol and taking drugs at an early age. Many women come to us for fertility tests, but it is often too late. Also, socalled business ladies want to have a baby after the age of 40, which may be difficult. And for some couples, it is an issue of genetic incompatibility.”
According to the Ukrainian Association of Reproductive Medicine, female infertility has increased by 18 percent since 2001 – and reached 43, 715 documented cases, while male infertility has increased 134 percent, with nearly 10, 000 cases documented.
Natalia is surrogate mother for the second time now. This time, she accepted a Ukrainian couple’s offer and hopes to receive nearly $45, 000 from them.
“First I did not trust our people because very often they cheat. But when I saw them, I understood I should help them. Besides, the money I get will help me to bring up my own children and give them education I was not able to have.”
Natalia, however, would prefer to help a foreign couple again. “It is psychologically easier to understand you can not reach the baby you gave birth to if it is somewhere abroad. Now I am getting used to the thought that somehow a baby I am pregnant with can meet me in the street and never recognize me. It is very difficult, so I prefer foreign clients,” she said.
There are also practical benefits to working with foreigners. “They pay more,” Natalia said, estimating that some foreign couples will pay double what some Ukrainians pay. Plus she considers foreigners more reliable.
But it is the relative inexpensiveness of Ukrainian surrogate mothers that attracts foreigners, along with the lack of legal restrictions.
“The number of foreign couples who come to Ukraine for surrogate mothers’ service has increased up to 50 percent and now equals the number of Ukrainian clients,” said Oleksandr Feskov, head of the Kharkiv Center of Reproductive Medicine. “Each year 40 to 50 couples from different countries try to solve barrenness problem in Ukraine.”
In many European Union nations, surrogate motherhood is forbidden or – in the case of Great Britain, Finland, Holland and others – prohibitively expensive for many people. In the United States, a surrogate mother would charge from $20, 000, plus expenses, monthly compensation and other fees. On top of that, agencies would charge roughly the same. Moreover, couples have to pay for various insurances, health and psychological screening, and whatever extra costs may occur.
By comparison, the costs of services in Feskov’s Kharkiv clinic range up to $3, 700, while a Kyiv clinic can charge more than $6, 000 for fertilization and obligatory first 12 weeks of pregnancy supervision.
Surrogate mothers in Ukraine are paid separately by the couples involved for their role in being inseminated and/or donating the embryo for transfer to the woman’s uterus or carrying the fetus to term.
But risks also come with the relatively low prices. Couples can be cheated by surrogate mothers, or vice versa, and Ukrainian law offers little protection.
Olena, a 38-year-old Kyivan, said she fell victim twice.
“The first surrogate mother simulated her pregnancy, took the money and escaped,” says Olena, who wanted to be identified only by her first name. “It was a very hard experience for me. I felt I was unworthy being a mother at all.”
Her second nightmare experience came two years later.
“The girl gave birth to a healthy child. I gave her all the money she needed but she decided to keep the baby for herself and quickly made all necessary [legal] documents, because I just trusted her and we made no contracts,” Olena said.
For both fruitless tries, Olena spent $25, 000.
“Money is nothing compared with the sorrow emptiness I feel inside. I and my husband are broken now. Maybe, in some time, when Ukrainian law will be suitable for surrogate motherhood we will try again.”
In spite of stories like Olena’s, many Ukrainian lawyers say the absence of a standard state contract on surrogate motherhood is advantageous. “A freeform document confirmed by the lawyer allows description of each point of the contract,” said Tamara Ivanova, a Kyiv lawyer.
Besides, under Ukrainian law, the status of biological parents goes to the couple that hired the surrogate mother, not to the woman who carried their child. According to the Family Code of Ukraine, the parents have a right to get an official birth certificate with the Ukrainian Registry Office.
This applies to foreigners as well. “According to the law, they have the same rights as the Ukrainians,” Ivanov said. However, anyone considering finding a surrogate mother for their child should still do their research very thoroughly. “If a surrogate mother knows the law better than biological parents it is only the parents’ problem if they become cheated.”
