The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on July 27 that it uncovered an illegal adoption scheme in which babies were “sold” to foreign nationals.
According to the SBU, the suspects forged documents to help foreign men have children through surrogacy in Ukraine. The customers allegedly paid $60,000 for the service. It included surrogacy fees.
Commercial surrogacy is allowed in Ukraine, but only married couples —Ukrainian or foreign — can use the services of a surrogate.
Within the scheme, several doctors in Kyiv and Kharkiv allegedly helped unmarried foreign men bend the rules.
The Security Service also claimed that several newborns had died because of negligence.
While the SBU calls the scheme “human trafficking,” the prosecution has charged the unnamed doctors with forgery of documents and negligence. If found guilty, the doctors could end up behind bars for up to three years.
According to SBU, the scheme was complex.
First, suspects allegedly arranged a fictitious marriage between Ukrainian women and foreign men seeking to become fathers. Then, fertility clinic doctors would fictitiously rule the women to be infertile, prompting the use of surrogacy. Ukrainian laws state that there has to be a medical reason for a couple to hire a surrogate.
Then, the suspects would fix up the fictitious couple with a surrogate mother. The SBU report doesn’t specify whether the women were also egg donors.
After a surrogate mother gave birth, foreigners would divorce their Ukrainian wives and leave the country with their newborns. Being a part of the scheme, the involved women allowed the father to leave the country with the babies.
Surrogacy and adoption of Ukrainian children by foreigners has always been a polarizing topic in Ukraine.
Read also: Surrogacy in Ukraine is big but little-regulated industry
Commercial surrogacy has been stuck in legal limbo, as Ukraine lacks specific legislation on the given topic. While being officially legal, Ukraine’s legislation does not contain a definition of surrogacy, nor a list of rights and responsibilities of participants in the surrogacy program.
The lack of a clear definition and the liability for violations has long been criticized by medical experts. The lack of proper legislation has made children vulnerable to human trafficking.
While often credited as one of the world’s main destinations for surrogacy tourism, Ukraine does not collect data on the number of surrogate children, making assessments impossible.
In 2020, 35 Ukrainian babies couldn’t be connected with their adoptees, as their “new” parents couldn’t enter the country due to COVID-19 quarantine restrictions. The babies were supervised by nannies in a Kyiv hotel.
