Many infertile couples go abroad in search of surrogacy in Ukraine. A gestational surrogate is a woman who is carrying a child not genetically related to her. The intent of a surrogate is to enable the Intended Parents who can not carry a pregnancy to deliver a child genetically related to them.
In contrast to Ukraine, surrogacy services are prohibited in many countries worldwide. Therefore, many infertile couples go abroad in search of surrogacy in Ukraine services. For the first time in Ukraine, a surrogacy program was implemented in 1992. Since then, the most important aspects of clinical assisted reproductive technology (ART) in Ukraine have been governed by the right to implement ART and surrogacy (The Civil Code of Ukraine).
The Civil Code of Ukraine guarantees the right of adult women and men to use ART in accordance with the terms and conditions established by the applicable law. According to the Fundamentals of Ukrainian Legislation Concerning Health Care, ART should meet terms and procedures approved by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, upon availability of clinical indications only and with the written consent of infertile couples.
Can foreign citizens, staying in Ukraine, enjoy the legal provisions governing assisted reproductive technology (ART) and, in particular, surrogacy in Ukraine, as well as obtain legal protection of their personal data and other economic and personal interests when participating in such surrogacy programs? The answer to this question is definitely yes, no doubt. Ukrainian legislation does not discriminate between foreigners and the citizens of Ukraine.
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If a married couple, planning to implement surrogacy in Ukraine, do not have enough information in the field of family and immigration laws of their home country, they should seek advice from the Ministry of Justice (or equivalent agency) of their home country. This must be sought in advance to obtain the appropriate, current policy on the matter and to clarify the procedure and terms for getting all required travel documents for a child.
The Family Code of Ukraine defines the origin of a child born as a result of ART. In the case of the transfer of an embryo conceived by a married couple (biological parents) to a surrogate, the biological parents are the child’s parents. Thus, Ukrainian legislation inherently recognizes biological parents who commissioned surrogacy in Ukraine as the legal parents of the child. The Ukrainian surrogacy law is the most progressive and convenient for biological parents.
The lawful marriage between the man and woman who will become the biological parents is a must. Surrogacy in Ukraine is a reproductive technology used to treat infertility only for valid medical reasons. Documents required from the Intended Parents: a) statement (application) of the patients; b) copies of valid ID card (passport); c) copy of a marriage certificate; and, d) notarized copies of the Surrogacy contracts between a surrogate and the Intended Parents.
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Medical care in Ukraine is granted in terms of medical privacy and covered by a physician – patient privilege. In order to preserve the confidentiality of personal data of patients seeking surrogacy services in Ukraine, IVF facilities shall also follow the relevant law “On Personal Data Protection”. Personal data is regarded as confidential information about an individual. Thus, surrogacy is performed in strict privacy and medical secrecy.
It is necessary to get an in-depth understanding of the surrogacy agreement defining relations between the Intended Parents and a surrogate. The subject of such an agreement is the provision by a surrogate of services consisting of bearing and delivering the child conceived by the Intended Parents as a result of ART, as well as a surrogate’s consent that the Intended Parents will be documented as the child’s lawful parents. It is advisable to notarize it.
To register a child with the Ukrainian state registration authority, the Intended Parents need to submit the certificate from the maternity hospital on delivery of the child, a certificate of the genetic relationship between the biological parent (-s) and the child, a written statement of a surrogate declaring her consent to register the biological parents as the child’s parents, copies of both the passports and a marriage certificate.