The problems of surrogate motherhood remain locked for discussion by public authorities, and the main problem is the absence of proper legal supervision, President of the IRTSA Ukraine (International Reproductive Technologies Support Agency), lawyer Serhiy Antonov has said.
“The main problematic issues are the lack of proper legal regulation and public control. This was especially manifested after another surrogate scandal. Several years of the moratorium on inspections at medical institutions actually provoked absolute legal nihilism, violation of professional and ethical canons by some clinics of reproductive medicine,” he told Interfax Ukraine.
According to the lawyer, the problems of surrogate motherhood in Ukraine “remain a locked topic for government bodies that continued to overlook them.”
At the same time, Antonov noted the activation of “populist deputies who suggested the easiest version of lawmaking – simply to prohibit, and to introduce a ban not only on surrogate programs for foreigners in Ukraine, but also on reproductive technologies in general for them.”
According to the expert, after a series of fat scandals it is difficult to assess the dynamics of the development of surrogate motherhood in Ukraine, but the development of these programs may stop.
“For now, it is difficult to talk about dynamics, as the market after public scandals and inspections again returned to the “dark zone,” and many foreign clients decided to wait in the summer of 2018 for the deputies to consider the submitted bills that change the legal regulation in this area. Maybe, indicators of the surrogate motherhood programs in 2018 would be significantly lower than in 2017,” he said.
According to Antonov, the initiatives of the lawmakers on the complete or partial ban of surrogate motherhood for foreigners can alienate many potential customers from Ukraine.
“Today, many foreigners prefer Georgia, where prices are lower and everything is more transparent in the legal field,” he said.
In the summer of 2018, Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko called on the Verkhovna Rada and the Ministry of Health to regulate the issues of surrogate motherhood in Ukraine in connection with the increasing frequency of crimes in this area. According to the prosecutor general, the problem of the illegal use of women from low-income families for surrogate motherhood gained momentum in Ukraine after the Indian authorities decided to ban commercial surrogate motherhood.
Lutsenko said that in 2010 a Moldovan citizen, who is also a German citizen, organized the activities of the BioTexCom medical center specializing in providing services in the field of reproductive medicine in Ukraine. In 2011, a couple from Italy became the patients of this clinic, and for 30,000 euros the clinic had to solve the problem of their childlessness. He said that at the time of fertilization, potential parents were not stayed in Ukraine and did not provide their biomaterial for the necessary medical procedures. In October 2011, the Italians took the born child to Italy, but the fact of the illegal origin of the child and the lack of its genetic connection with this married couple was revealed by Italian law enforcement officers. The baby in Italy is transferred to an orphanage, and the spouses are brought to justice under the laws of this country.
