In Search of Surrogates, Foreign Couples Descend on Ukraine
By Kevin Ponniah | BBC News | Feb. 13, 2018
Foreign couples have been coming to this corner of Europe in droves since 2015, when surrogacy hotspots in Asia began closing their industries one-by-one, amid reports of exploitation. Barred from India, Nepal and Thailand, they turned to Ukraine, one of the few places left where surrogacy can still be arranged at a fraction of what it costs in the US.
This article covers the “rise” of Ukraine as a destination for intended parents hoping to form families via surrogacy. It follows Ana, who became a gestational mother at 21 years and, at 24 years, is carrying another pregnancy for Japanese intended parents she will never meet.
It also provides a short overview of the current surrogacy law in Ukraine, the main tenets of which are as follows:
- Surrogacy is available to heterosexual, married couples able to prove they cannot carry a baby themselves for medical reasons.
- At least one parent must have a genetic link to the baby.
- The intended parents are on the Ukrainian birth certificate; the gestational mother has no legal right to claim custody of the child.