Surrogacy is a developing trend in Ukraine. The program is the only way to become a mom for women who, for some reason, cannot bear a child on their own. Despite the complete legality and growing popularity of the program in Ukraine, few people know how to properly formalize the entire process. Today, we will share with you all the nuances of surrogacy procedures in Ukraine.
Legal Issues
Surrogacy is a legal process assuming the involvement of a surrogate mother for a certain cost, stated in the work contract, regulated by the current Family Code of Ukraine and several other laws:
- Paragraph 2 of Article 123 of the Family Code establishes the origin of the child using artificial insemination methods and clearly defines that the parents of a newborn delivered by a surrogate mother are a married couple who provided their gametes (germ cells) and used the surrogacy services.
- Paragraph 3 of the same article establishes the possibility for spouses to use donor oocytes or sperm for in vitro fertilization, and the embryo will, in any case, be considered the spouses’. Couples who have consented to use reproductive methods obtain full parental rights and duties concerning kids born as a result of these actions.
When using this technology, the following subjects take part:
- a father, who gives his own sperm to fertilize the ovum, and also takes on the duty of the father;
- a mother who gives her own ovum to be fertilized, and also takes on the mother’s duty after the birth of the baby;
- a surrogate mother — a female resident of Ukraine, who has agreed to bear and deliver a baby from genetic parents for a fixed cost or without payment, and also does not pretend to be a mother of the child after the finish of her work (the full completion of the surrogacy process);
- intermediaries (various surrogacy agencies) — people who are engaged in the “reunification” of couples looking for a surrogate mother, provide legal support for surrogacy transactions, and negotiate with clinics that will carry out the labor services.
Key Stages of the Surrogacy Program
According to the World Health Organization, approximately 8% of married couples experienced infertility in 2015-2019. If you are among such couples, you may consider involving surrogate mothers from Ukraine to have a child. For this purpose, you will have to take the following steps:
- Choose a surrogate mother;
- Synchronize the menstrual cycles of a biological mother and surrogate mother, pass through the preparation of embryos/cryoembryos;
- Go through an embryo transferring procedure to the uterus of a surrogate mother;
- Receive the confirmation of pregnancy;
- Participate in the pregnancy process before the delivery day.
- Get a certificate of birth;
- Legalize parents’ rights on the newborn.
Throughout the entire process, the help of a lawyer will be indispensable: from the preparation for signing the contract to the control over the process of obtaining a birth certificate. All this is necessary to consider in advance. Good luck!
