What Does An Invasion Of Ukraine Mean For Surrogacy?

// Ukraine is a popular destination for surrogacy. With surrogacy being illegal or unsupported throughout much of the world and expensive in the United States, Ukraine has been a steady provider of surrogacy services to the international community. At least for heterosexual married couples, that is. Nonmarried persons and same-sex couples are not permitted to enter surrogacy arrangements in Ukraine.

But as you have heard, Vladimir Putin had Russian troops built up on the border of Ukraine. While President Joe Biden and Western European nations have sought a diplomatic solution, tensions only seem to escalate daily. So what happens when your child is being carried by a surrogate in a country facing wartime conditions? Uncertainty. Danger. And potentially catastrophe.

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Ukraine Surrogacy Dispatches. I spoke to the founder of HeyReprotech, Alison Motluk. (Check out this podcast interview we did with her last year.) Motluk is Canadian, but her paternal family hails from Ukraine. Fun fact, we both separately studied in Russia in college and spent time traveling in Ukraine. HeyReprotech has started a series of reports specifically following the situation with surrogacy in Ukraine called “Ukraine Surrogacy Dispatches.” Subscribe here to follow the regular updates.

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Motluk shared with me that until this week, the Ukrainian surrogates and fertility clinics she had been in contact with were feeling optimistic, and treating everything as business as usual. However, at least one agency has been actively moving surrogates to the western part of the country, farther from the border with Russia.

One clinic shared that they had secured a nearby bomb shelter for the protection of surrogates, babies, parents, and others. And that they were doing practice runs to the bomb shelter! Having your surrogate or baby stuck in a bomb shelter while there is a war happening above ground is a scary thought.

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International Legal Perspective. I also checked in with Rich Vaughn, founder of International Fertility Legal Group and an expert in the international surrogacy space. Vaughn reminded me that this would not, of course, be the first international surrogacy crisis. There was the dramatic scandal and overnight banning of surrogacy in Thailand, the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, sudden changes in law in India and Cambodia, and airspaces closures in … Ukraine (again), and travel restrictions during the worst of COVID-19.

Vaughn also pointed out that there is no legislative recourse for surrogates in Ukraine. Surrogacy is largely unregulated there — and there is always an increased risk and lack of a safety net when there is no legislated care or protection. (By contrast, many states in the United States, like California and Colorado, have surrogacy-protective laws.)

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Further complicating the situation in Ukraine, Vaughn explained that children by surrogacy are born stateless in the country. There is no birthright citizenship in Ukraine, unlike in the United States. This increases the pressure for a diplomatic solution to get surrogate-born babies recognized nationality status, and travel documents to get home.

Of the numerous things international parents should be considering, Vaughn suggests the following top five issues be included.

Travel. Flights may be cancelled; travel may become increasingly difficult. It is currently recommended that U.S. citizens avoid traveling to Ukraine. But it is not, at the moment, prohibited.

Both Parents Present. Both parents may be required to be in the country to register the child and complete the necessary administrative steps to get the child home.

Care/Guardians. If parents are unable to make it to their child at birth, they need a backup plan for care for their child until they can get there.

Delay Treatment, if Possible. For those without a child already on the way, consider delaying the embryo transfer, if possible, and consider shipping embryos out of the country.

Prepare For The Worst. If there is a full-scale invasion or war, how bad will the consequences be? Loss of embryos? Worse, loss of life? Professionals and government officials previously depended on may no longer be available. The surrogate and your child may be in danger.

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We are all praying for a peaceful solution and a future that does not include such worst-case scenarios, or even the less-extreme inconveniences. Here’s hoping that Russia’s current trajectory with Ukraine changes course. And quickly.

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Ellen Trachman is the Managing Attorney of Trachman Law Center, LLC, a Denver-based law firm specializing in assisted reproductive technology law, and co-host of the podcast I Want To Put A Baby In You. You can reach her at [email protected].

Topics

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), Ellen Trachman, Family Law, Ukraine