Surrogacy: moms for sale. Surrogacy laws in the usa, israel and other countries
In the past few years, several media have begun to actively cover the topic of surrogacy. Articles have appeared in magazines: an article titled "A Womb for Rent" in Newsweek (Ali & Kelley, 2008) or an article "The World's Most Desirable Surrogate Mothers" in Glamour (Nosheen & Schellmann, 2010), which examines the benefits of military wives in as surrogate mothers.
The Wall Street Journal published "Get an International Baby" (Audi & Chang, 2010), which describes international surrogacy as an option for individuals to avoid their home country's restrictive laws as well as reduce financial costs. Popular television shows, including Army Wives and Private Practice, feature fictional depictions of surrogacy. In 2008, a film devoted to this topic, Oh Mommy (Goldwyn, Michaels, McCullers, 2008), was released. This film addresses the many challenges and variables of surrogacy, including single parenting, infertility, and the bond between the surrogate mother and the intended mother.
Today, people all over the world, regardless of marital status or sexual orientation, consider surrogacy as an opportunity to have a full-fledged family. Even though the birth of a child is usually considered very happy for parents, surrogacy - whether traditional or gestational - is uncharted territory that can become very difficult and stressful for all parties involved to cross.
Imagine that you and your spouse want to have a child, but you cannot get pregnant for a number of reasons. Your friend knows how much you dream of a child and offers to help you and your spouse: she carries your child for you (surrogacy services price). This is an exciting time for you! The opportunity to have the family you have always dreamed of... until you become familiar with the laws of your state and realize that surrogacy is prohibited by law. But a few weeks later, when you and your partner decide to go through the surrogacy process in another country where it's legal. You are worried again! Until you find that you cannot return home with the child because your country will not legally recognize you as a parent and your child as a citizen of their country.
For couples with fertility problems or for same-sex couples, surrogacy is an effective way to start a family. The sad fact remains that surrogacy comes in many forms and types, many of which are illegal or banned in many parts of the world and even in the United States. For example. The US does not have a nationwide surrogacy law. Each state independently establishes the legislative norms for surrogate motherhood, while most states do not have laws regulating this type of reproductive technology. While some people do contract with surrogates in these states, it can be very risky if you don't get legal advice beforehand.
Additionally, some states in the US do not allow same-sex couples to enter into legal surrogate contracts. Some states say that a couple wishing to use a surrogate mother must be legally married. Under the new marriage equality legislation, same-sex couples should fall under the “married” section (if they are married), however, cases of surrogacy among same-sex couples have not been recorded to determine how the judiciary will respond to them. Even more unfortunate is that many countries around the world do not allow same-sex couples to have a child through surrogacy due to intolerance towards the LGBT community.
While surrogacy can be risky and challenging, the joy of starting your family through surrogacy is well worth it (health surrogacy). Many couples and singles, straight or gay, and even celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Elton John, Neil Patrick Harris and Nicole Kidman (among many others!), have found happiness through surrogacy.
Remember, if you decide that a surrogate mother service will solve your infertility problem, be sure to contact a reputable surrogacy agency for a deeper understanding of the process and to avoid numerous pitfalls.
Commercial type of surrogacy
There are two types of surrogacy, one of which is commercial surrogacy. Commercial surrogacy involves the surrogate mother receiving monetary compensation for carrying a child for a childless couple. It would seem that there is nothing criminal in this, and it is even right that the surrogate mother receives a reward for her time, efforts and health. However, there are countries where such surrogate motherhood is prohibited.
You can resort to commercial surrogacy in the following countries:
- Some US states such as Arkansas, California, Massachusetts, Illinois, Texas (must be a married couple to have a child through surrogacy), Nevada;
- India;
- Russia: It is very difficult for gay couples to use a surrogate mother in Russia.
- Ukraine: Ukraine allows commercial surrogacy, however, you must be a married heterosexual couple;
- State of Tabasco, Mexico: Tabasco allows surrogacy, but Tabasco government officials recently stopped issuing birth certificates for couples using surrogates.
- Thailand: Thai couples can have children through surrogacy, but they must be heterosexual and legally married for three years. Gay couples in Thailand cannot hire a surrogate mother.
Free surrogacy
Another form of surrogacy is altruistic surrogacy, where the surrogate mother receives no monetary reward and can only expect to pay medical bills, financial expenses during pregnancy for food, clothing, medical insurance, life insurance, etc.
This type of surrogacy is acceptable in places such as:
- Some US states such as Kentucky, Nebraska, Maryland, Washington, Michigan (commercial surrogacy is illegal and the government does not recognize surrogacy contracts), Florida (the couple must be legally married), Utah, Virginia (same-sex couples can be very difficult obtain permission to use a surrogate mother)
- Canada
- Belgium
- United Kingdom: Be careful in the United Kingdom. A surrogate mother is legally recognized as a mother, whether or not she is biologically related to the child. Surrogacy contracts are not signed in the UK.
- Denmark
- Greece: Greece does not allow gay couples to use the services of surrogate mothers.
- Netherlands: It is not allowed to post ads here, even social media posts, that you are looking for a surrogate mother.
- Australia: New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland and Victoria allow homosexuals to start families through surrogacy. Other Australian states do not. Some Australian states require you to be married. Single women must have medical indications for using a surrogate mother.
Countries where surrogacy is prohibited
Some parts of the USA: Arizona (contracting surrogates is prohibited, however, the practice of surrogacy takes place), Washington, DC, New York, New Jersey, Indiana
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Spain
- Portugal
- Bulgaria
- Sweden.
- Norway. Norway has strict rules about artificial insemination and surrogacy is illegal.
- Austria. Austria prohibits gestational surrogacy under section 3 paragraph 3 of the Reproductive Medicine Act. It is not clear, however, whether traditional surrogacy is allowed.
Which countries allow surrogacy performed abroad:
- France: Although surrogacy is prohibited in France, in 2014 France's highest court officially granted legal recognition to surrogate children born in foreign countries. This means that surrogate children born abroad to French citizen parents will now be legally recognized as French citizens.
- Germany: In 2014, the German Supreme Court ruled granting German citizenship to children born under a foreign surrogacy program.
- Spain.
Countries where international surrogacy is prohibited:
Some countries do not recognize you and/or your partner as the legal parent of your child if you are traveling abroad to use the services of a surrogate mother. This is especially difficult for same-sex couples who return home to a country where same-sex marriage is not legal or same-sex relationships are not protected by the government.
- Portugal
- Netherlands
- Italy: Italy technically recognizes foreign surrogacy, however there has been a high-profile case recently that requires Italy to be placed in this category.
- Parts of Australia: Some states allow Australians to enter into a surrogacy agreement overseas, however Australian parents cannot be recognized as their child's parents if they are involved in commercial surrogacy rather than altruistic surrogacy.
No laws/regulations on surrogacy
There are a number of countries in which the government and legislature do not have a clear position regarding surrogacy and where it is not clear whether surrogacy is allowed or not. As a result, many problems can arise. In some cases, a country or state will not intervene and simply ignore such practices. In other cases, you may not be recognized as the child's legal parent, or the surrogate may be listed as the legal mother (even if she is not genetically related to the child). These countries include
- Ireland
- Nepal: Although many people go to Nepal to look for a surrogate mother, there is actually no surrogacy law in this country.
Does not allow international surrogacy within their country of Thailand. After several international scandals in which international couples abandoned their children born by Thai surrogate mothers, the government banned foreign couples from hiring surrogate mothers in Thailand.
Given the negative attitude of modern society towards surrogate motherhood, equating this method of combating infertility with a commercial service, reproductive motherhood is strictly prohibited in many European countries.
France is a great country, full of romance and sophistication, a country that is full of love. However, despite this abundance of love of its inhabitants, it is one of the brightest opponents of surrogate motherhood. In France, the use of reproductive motherhood is officially prohibited by law, the government of the country believes that this method is contrary to the law, and in every way contradicts the law on the adoption of children.
Norway. The same situation, which is under the strict control of the state. Not only is reproductive motherhood banned by law, even egg donation is banned. On the territory of Norway, it is customary to consider and indicate in the documents as a mother only the woman who gave birth to a child, which in every possible way contradicts the conditions of the surrogate motherhood program, where genetic parents are indicated as relatives when registering a child. As a result, if a donor mother wants to give birth in this country, one must be prepared for the fact that, according to the laws of the state, she will be accepted as the real mother of the child. Whether there is a .
And the citizens of Norway, who cannot have children for medical reasons, seek help from surrogate mothers in other countries, at the time of the birth of the child, the legal status of the baby is uncertain, with subsequent ensuing problems associated with further residence in Norway. It is worth noting that the authorities in no case hide this kind of information, but on the contrary, they try to warn as many of the country's population as possible.
Germany. This country has a special law for the protection of embryos. Violating it, only the medical staff of the clinic that performs this procedure can be punished. Namely, a fertilized embryo is implanted in a surrogate mother, with her subsequent refusal after the birth of a child. Various surgical interventions that are related to the IVF procedure are punishable by 3 years of a court sentence, or compensation in the form of a large sum of money. Of course, advertising or any commercial activity related to surrogacy is subject to severe punishment. You can also add countries such as Sweden, Austria, and several US states to this number.
Which countries allow surrogacy?
In connection with this situation in the world, many countries are divided into certain groups, depending on the conditions for the provision of surrogate motherhood services, in which you can still use this reproductive motherhood program.
So, the countries where it is possible to allow surrogate motherhood, however, with the condition of strict restrictions, include the UK, Greece, Canada, Australia, etc.
The legislation of these countries provides for the use of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) with the help of an outside woman, only on a gratuitous basis. Which means that the surrogate mother does not receive any commercial benefit from participating in this program, she is compensated only for all medical expenses, as well as a period of temporary disability due to pregnancy.
And yet, most of the countries where to bear a child whose parent is a genetic mother or father, with an emphasis on the commercial implementation of this program, have become - Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, the USA, Russia.
Although recently the Russian government has raised the issue of adopting a bill that prohibits the commercial form of reproductive motherhood, since the legal framework governing this issue is not fully controlled by the authorities of the Russian Federation and is subject to large-scale monetary fraud among institutions that provide such services.
Surrogate motherhood ethical aspects
Everything that directly concerns a living person will always carry some ethical aspect of a particular situation that he encounters in this world. And reproductive motherhood directly affects the fate and rights of an unprotected newborn baby who is born, contrary to all the laws of nature.
From the point of view of ethical standards, a woman providing such a colossal service must be compensated in any amount for the time and physical health spent during pregnancy, so basically this compensation looks like a monetary equivalent.
Do not forget that where there is a positive and tactful decision to thank the surrogate mother with a large sum of money, an acute ethical problem arises, which shows that surrogate motherhood should be an exclusively voluntary, compassionate and disinterested act of a woman, which means that reward in this form brings only an insult to human dignity.
Bioethical problems of surrogate motherhood
From the bioethical side, the method of reproductive motherhood can be compared with organ transplantation. Both in one and in the other case, all the actions of these methods are aimed at improving the life of mankind. After all, a doomed, infertile couple, with the help of the latest medical technologies and women who voluntarily become surrogate mothers, gets a chance to become happy parents, and in the case of transplantation, sometimes it allows them to save a person's life through the voluntary donation of an organ or tissue. ?
Surrogacy abroad, in countries where the use of this program is allowed, is quite popular for several reasons. This is in Russia, we have recently begun to develop reproductive motherhood at the global level, like all medicine in general. And foreign countries owe the emergence and development of assisted reproductive technologies, where the provision of the material and technical base is much higher, and to this day, the level of services provided and the equipment of clinics in many foreign countries remains one of the best. Therefore, wealthy couples allow themselves to go to such clinics. But the arguments are not limited to this. As mentioned earlier, there are still states in which the use of ART is simply prohibited by law, which forces spouses to seek help abroad. Or, in order to maintain complete confidentiality as customers, and to preserve the secrecy of surrogate motherhood, the woman participating in this program is conditioned to move abroad.
Surrogacy in Europe
Let us consider in more detail some European countries and their attitude to reproductive motherhood. We have already indicated countries in which surrogacy is completely prohibited. However, in Italy, the law regulates the issue of surrogate motherhood, but preliminarily provides for some nuances. Only heterosexual married couples who are officially registered in the country, with the conclusion of specialists about infertility, can become participants in the ART program. A system of large fines has been developed in the event of any sale of germ cells, the involvement of a third party (a surrogate mother), and even provides for a prison sentence of several years.
Surrogacy abroad
In one of the few US states where reproductive motherhood and assisted reproductive technologies are legal and regulated by the laws of the US government, Miami is the most popular city that provides this opportunity, and here's why. In addition to the fact that the country's legislation provides for full protection of the rights of all persons participating in the program, and these are clinic specialists, a surrogate mother and genetic parents, Miami is famous for its high quality of services, although the price category is almost the same compared to domestic clinics. Due to comfortable conditions, state-of-the-art equipment and skillful qualifications of specialists, many couples go to Miami to fulfill their cherished dream.
The latest innovation in the field of reproductive motherhood in the United States is the individual choice of the sex of the child, which other countries of the world that are engaged in the surrogacy program cannot boast of.
Surrogate motherhood in the world. Spain
In vitro fertilization is based on the fertilization of an egg outside the uterine cavity, followed by the implantation of an embryo in a surrogate mother. The number of attempts at which the egg can be used for replanting is individual. So, few people know that in such cases, not one, but several embryos are implanted at once to achieve the maximum effect, namely, a successful pregnancy. That is why the chances of giving birth to twins or even triplets increase many times over.
Therefore, in Spain, at the legislative level, it is allowed, in the event of a successful pregnancy, to get rid of several embryos to exclude multiple pregnancy. We can say that here the powers of a surrogate mother are somewhat wider than in other countries. It is also strongly recommended that IVF clinic specialists conduct a special diagnostic examination of the embryo to prevent the development of any pathologies in the health of the unborn child.
Surrogacy philosophy
Philosophical views on reproductive motherhood cannot be ignored. Surrogate mothers are increasingly faced with negative public opinion, but if we discard all prejudices and look at it from a philosophical point of view, then here are the conclusions we can come to.
The philosophy of surrogacy is similar to the philosophy of egg donation, which normally means that there are no negative factors in the use of these methods. After all, if an ordinary person is engaged in voluntary blood donation, i.e. donor - no one will say that he is doing badly, on the contrary, this is a hero, the savior of someone's life. A similar situation with surrogate motherhood, couples who are on the verge of despair and are close to getting divorced, can be saved with the help of a surrogate mother who will give a new stimulus to life.
Of course, an infertile couple can adopt a child of any age. However, when there is an opportunity to get your own genetically native child, and along with this there are women who are ready to take such a step and become a surrogate mother - why not take advantage of this chance? After all, adoption is no easier in terms of emotional, not many couples decide on such a responsibility.
The opinion of scientists about surrogate motherhood
One of the latest discoveries of experts was the question of some difference between children born from their natural parents and children born by a surrogate mother.
It turns out that scientists have found that after a series of specific studies, children born using the IVF procedure experience anxiety states with age, a feeling of oppression, a tendency to depression and neurosis increases, unlike other children.
And this is explained quite simply - when a surrogate mother consciously refuses to establish any emotional connection with the child, and provokes special centers to block the psychological mechanism of self-defense. In order to preserve their own psyche and further abandon the child without much effort.
Naturally, on the one hand, this is even necessary for a woman who has decided to bear someone else's child, since morally it is very difficult. However, a psychologist specializing in this field recommends that a surrogate mother not completely cut off the connection with the fetus, but at least from time to time put her hands on her stomach so that the child feels the protection and warmth of the mother.
The problem of surrogate motherhood is the most controversial and the least regulated in legal terms. First of all, he is criticized for commercialization, motivated by the fact that a woman, in fact, is used as a paid incubator. The prohibition of the use of surrogacy for commercial purposes is stated in the Brussels Declaration of the World Medical Association (WMA) of 1985.
At the pan-European level, on November 19, 1996, the Council of Europe adopted the Convention on Human Rights in Biomedicine. The Convention is the first binding legal document in the field of health aimed at protecting people from possible abuses associated with the use of new biological and medical methods and procedures.
Artificial insemination methods in international law are also regulated by several directives arising from the three recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the resolutions adopted on March 16, 1969 by the European Parliament, and the decisions of the Commission on Human Rights in 1971 and 1976.
Legislatively, surrogate motherhood is prohibited in Austria, Germany (doctors and intermediaries, not parents and a surrogate mother, are punished), Italy, Norway, Sweden, in some states of the USA, France, Switzerland, etc.
In some countries, the law does not prohibit surrogate motherhood, but at the same time does not regulate it in any way (Belgium, Greece, Ireland, some countries of Latin America and Asia).
IN USA The practice of using surrogate motherhood is the most common. The US Congress allowed surrogacy in 1991, although it is still prohibited in the states of New Hampshire and Virginia. In many US states, agencies for its application are open. The country has a huge database of donor eggs for women who cannot provide a surrogate mother with their own. It is possible to choose a donor even by ethnic origin, religion and appearance.
As for the legislative solution to the issue of surrogate motherhood, the United States does not have a unified legal framework for its application. The constitution of this country gives the state assemblies the right to independently adopt legislative acts in the field of healthcare, therefore, each US state creates its own medical legislative framework, including those relating to the use of the surrogate motherhood method.
The most progressive in this respect is California. Under California law, the provision of surrogacy services is not contrary to public conscience, and therefore surrogacy is allowed in the state, regardless of what principles it will be based on. The main criteria that a surrogate mother must meet are the age of 20 years and the presence of her own children.
IN Finland issues related to the use of the surrogacy method and the establishment of the origin of children born out of wedlock are regulated by the Paternity Establishment Act 1975. According to the provisions of the law, when a child is born by a surrogate mother, the principle of biological relationship is applied, that is, motherhood automatically follows from the fact of the birth of a child, even in cases where the donor cells of the spouses are fully used and there is no relationship between the biological mother and the newborn. Subsequently, maternity cannot be annulled on the grounds that the child's biological mother is not the legal mother.
Family code Ukraine, which entered into force on January 1, 2004, legalized surrogate motherhood, as a result of which Ukrainian legislation has become one of the most favorable in the world for passing this type of program.
Surrogate (substitute) motherhood means the bearing and birth of a child conceived through in vitro fertilization. At the same time, the genetic material that becomes the basis of a new life does not belong to the woman herself, but to strangers for her, who, for whatever reason, cannot have offspring themselves.
The opportunity to use the services of a surrogate mother for many single people or infertile couples is the only way to get genetically related children. The method is in great demand, despite the need for significant financial investments.
Most Russians consider substitute motherhood to be something exotic and not entirely ethical. This is facilitated by the wide spread of various misconceptions.
Source: depositphotos.com
"Surrogate" children are different from "normal" children
A child born as a result of surrogacy is neither physically nor mentally different from their peers, conceived naturally or born by a biological mother who became pregnant through the IVF procedure. On the contrary, this baby has a higher chance of being born healthy - without genetic abnormalities and intrauterine developmental defects. The fact is that the procedure of artificial insemination of a surrogate mother is preceded by a thorough medical examination. With the same attention, doctors study the health status of future biological parents. Fertilized eggs prepared for the IVF procedure are selected in order to exclude possible anomalies. Bearing a "surrogate" baby, his birth and the first months of life are also under the strict supervision of specialists.
This cannot be. The genetic material that determines the features of appearance, such a child receives from biological parents. Fertilization and the first divisions of the embryo occur in a test tube. At the time of placement in the body of a surrogate mother, it has a complete set of genes that can no longer be supplemented. In the future, the baby will become like his mother and father. A woman who carried and gave birth to a child does not pass on any hereditary qualities to him.
"Surrogate" child is threatened with infertility in the future
In children born from surrogate mothers, no specific malformations of the reproductive system are observed. Moreover, substitute motherhood has officially existed for more than 40 years, and the first "surrogate" children have long become adults and have their own families. Among them, not a single case of infertility, directly due to the circumstances of conception, gestation or birth, has yet been registered.
The biological mother of the child must be young
This is wrong. The only condition for the use of the replacement motherhood method in this case is the ability of the biological mother's body to produce live eggs, which is possible not only during the period considered optimal for bearing a child, but also after a woman reaches 40 years of age, when pregnancy and childbirth are associated with certain risks.
Among the biological parents who resort to the help of surrogate mothers, there are many people who for a long time tried to have children, were treated for infertility, resorted to artificial insemination. In most cases, the biological mother is no longer very young. Often, substitute motherhood is resorted to by women who have missed the optimal age for bearing due to a passion for their careers.
The mature (over 40 years) age of the biological mother with any method of conception has an increased risk of the birth of a baby with developmental disabilities. A thorough check of fertilized eggs before their implantation in the body of a surrogate mother can significantly reduce this risk. In addition, today a woman has the opportunity to take advantage of the achievements of scientific and technological progress and store the eggs taken at the optimal reproductive age in frozen form for subsequent fertilization. At the same time, the probability of having a healthy child increases.
For conception, the egg of a surrogate mother is used
In most cases, family couples who are able to give normal germ cells resort to substitute motherhood. However, there are exceptions: sometimes, due to the unsatisfactory state of the reproductive system of future biological mothers, eggs are taken from their blood relatives (for example, sisters).
In some cases, single men wish to use surrogate motherhood. In such a situation, the future father has the opportunity to use an egg taken from an anonymous donor. In Russia, since 2012, there has been a legislative restriction that prohibits a surrogate mother from becoming a donor of genetic material at the same time.
Wealthy women use surrogacy to avoid childbirth
It is impossible to exclude such cases, but if they happen, then infrequently. The fact is that the procedure for taking eggs is a very difficult task. The ovarian puncture is performed under general anesthesia. For several weeks before this, the woman is forced to take hormonal drugs that activate the maturation of the follicles. All of these procedures are unpleasant and associated with certain risks.
As a rule, surrogate motherhood is resorted to by women who cannot conceive or bear a child due to age or serious pathologies that are incompatible with pregnancy. Such a decision is usually dictated by difficult life circumstances, and not by the desire to make life easier for yourself by avoiding the hardships of pregnancy and childbirth.
Surrogate mothers often keep their children to themselves
The risk of such a development of events is not excluded. During gestation and childbirth, a woman may become attached to the unborn baby and not be able to overcome the emotional stress associated with the need to transfer it to biological parents. A future surrogate mother must take a course with a psychologist, but this does not always help.
There is also a directly opposite possibility: relatives, mother and father, may refuse a newborn for psychological or some other reasons. Although each case of substitute motherhood is accompanied by the drawing up of an agreement regulating the obligations of the parties, there is no mechanism for the forced transfer of a “surrogate” child in our country.
Fortunately, such scenarios are extremely rare. As a rule, children born by surrogate mothers safely find their families.
Surrogacy is outlawed
In Russia, surrogacy, including commercial surrogacy, has been officially allowed since 2011. It is regulated by the Federal Law "On the Basics of Protecting the Health of Citizens in the Russian Federation", a number of articles of the Family Code, as well as orders of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.
Despite the fact that legislative acts have a number of significant gaps, practice has established that not only officially registered married couples, but also citizens living in a civil marriage, as well as single women and men, have the right to use vicarious motherhood. Sometimes persons who are not in a marital relationship have to prove their right to motherhood or fatherhood in court. However, these cases are becoming more and more, and it is hoped that such problems will disappear over time.
The authorities of other states treat the practice of surrogate motherhood in different ways. It actually exists but is not regulated by law in Finland, Belgium, Spain and Greece. In countries such as the UK, Denmark, Israel, Canada, the Netherlands, surrogate motherhood is allowed with significant restrictions (as a rule, the provision of these services on a commercial basis is prohibited). In Belarus, only those women who are unable to bear a child due to serious health problems can use the help of surrogate mothers. On the territory of France, Sweden, Norway, Austria and Germany, substitute motherhood is completely prohibited.
The development of substitute motherhood is hampered not only by delusions about its safety for the unborn child. Many consider this way of acquiring offspring to be contrary to ethical standards. There is an opinion that the use of a woman's body to carry a genetically alien fetus violates her rights and is actually exploitation. Some people equate commercial surrogacy with child trafficking. A negative attitude is supported by the heads of the main religious denominations: they believe that the practice of vicarious motherhood undermines the foundations of family relations.
Nevertheless, it must be admitted that the services of surrogate mothers allow those people who in other circumstances would be deprived of such an opportunity to become happy parents. Most likely, this practice will develop especially successfully if legislators take care to study the existing problems and create an adequate legal basis for their solution.
Video from YouTube on the topic of the article:
Assisted reproductive technologies in our time allow many couples who, for health reasons, are not able to conceive a child naturally, become parents. Taking into account the level of technical equipment of clinics, the qualifications of doctors from highly developed countries, the majority of Russian citizens choose surrogacy abroad as a way to exercise their right to a full-fledged family. This technique appeared at the end of the 20th century, but even today there are heated discussions about it in the world.
The essence of the technique
It is customary to call surrogate motherhood such an assisted reproductive technology, in which a healthy woman of childbearing age voluntarily agrees to bear and give birth to a child biologically alien to her, who will be transferred to the upbringing of a genetic father and mother. The terms of cooperation are specified in the official contract, which is drawn up by a lawyer. It may be necessary to pay a surrogate mother abroad, as in many countries this technique is used on a commercial basis.
What types of surrogate motherhood exist
There are two types of technology - partial (traditional) and full (gestational) surrogate motherhood. In the first case, the seminal fluid of the genetic father/donor and the egg of the surrogate mother are used to obtain an embryo. The second type of technique involves the fertilization of the genetic mother's egg with the sperm of her husband, the genetic father.
Donor male and female germ cells are also used. With gestational technology, unlike the traditional one, the surrogate mother does not have a biological connection with the child she is carrying.
Legislation regarding the application of technology abroad
The legal regulation of surrogate motherhood abroad has its own specifics in each individual country. The governments of many states refuse to legalize the use of this technique, referring to the moral and ethical problems associated with it.
Opponents of surrogacy fear that wealthy people will begin to massively hire women who need financial support in order to carry their children.
The Church believes that surrogacy is immoral because it undermines the sanctity of such concepts as marriage and family. From the point of view of some psychologists, this assisted reproductive technology can deeply injure both the baby himself and the woman who carried, gave birth, and then gave him away.
That is why surrogate motherhood in Canada, for example, is exclusively altruistic - free of charge. A woman takes such a step if she psychologically considers herself ready to give up the child. 
Where is commercial surrogacy allowed?
The laws of many countries do not prohibit a surrogate mother from receiving financial rewards from customers for the services provided (in addition to compensation for the costs incurred by her during gestation and childbirth). So, in 1991, the US Congress officially lifted the ban on the use of this reproductive technology. But the law provided for each state the right to independently determine its position on this matter. The use of the technique is still not allowed in Arizona, Michigan, New Jersey.
Surrogacy is not prohibited in Finland as a way to deal with infertility on a commercial basis. But the state has not adopted a separate legislative act regulating issues related to the use of this reproductive technology. The process of registering children born by surrogate mothers in the country is quite problematic and lengthy. Immediately, the woman in labor writes an official refusal of the child, and only after that the biological parents can adopt him.
Surrogacy is not regulated by a special law in Lithuania, Poland. Many clinics provide such services because there is no official ban on the use of this technology in the country. Since the authorities take a detached position on this issue, genetic parents risk being left without a child if the surrogate mother does not want to give it away.
In 1997, permission for surrogacy appeared in Georgia. In 2014, attempts were made to amend the current law to abolish remuneration for surrogate mothers in order to prevent the commercialization of the service. But this proposal failed to win a majority of votes in the legislature of this country.
Surrogacy in Holland is limited not only by the surrogate mother's fee ban. Advertising of this reproductive technology, as well as mediation in this area, aimed at making a profit, is not allowed here. Violation of the law provides for not administrative, but criminal liability associated with deprivation of liberty (the term depends on the type of crime).
In Greece, you can be arrested if there is a provision in the surrogacy contract for the financial reward of the surrogate mother. But genetic parents are not forbidden to pay her money for all expenses during pregnancy and after childbirth. This woman should also be compensated for temporary disability. The amount of payments is limited to 10 thousand euros. Higher compensation is considered a violation of the law.
Non-commercial surrogacy in Denmark is possible only if a relative of infertile spouses becomes a surrogate mother. Otherwise, all parties to the agreement are subject to criminal liability.
For commercial surrogacy in Spain, Australia, Israel, both genetic parents and a surrogate mother fall under court, depending on whose guilt is proven. In addition, Israeli laws provide for criminal liability for a surrogate mother who has provided services without receiving the approval of a special commission, which includes doctors, social workers and religious figures.
In which countries is surrogacy prohibited?
Surrogacy is prohibited in Estonia, France, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, and Germany. For example, among the Germans and Austrians, only physicians who perform such procedures are prosecuted by law. They are expected to be imprisoned for 1-3 years. Surmat, customers and donors are not responsible. 
In Italy, punishment awaits the participants in the transaction and those who distribute advertising about this method of childbearing. For assistance and assistance in organizing the procedure, imprisonment for a period of 3 months to 2 years and a fine of about 1 million euros may follow.
For surrogacy in Estonia, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland, surrogate mothers and doctors who have tried to provide such medical services are liable. The latter are licensed. The only way out for the citizens of these countries is surrogacy abroad. Having taken the baby, the genetic parents can register it at home. The procedure is identical to the adoption of children with foreign citizenship.
Although surrogate motherhood is prohibited in France, it does not entail criminal liability. As a punishment for parents who have turned to a foreign woman for the services of bearing and giving birth to a child, the state issues a refusal to recognize the baby as a descendant of genetic parents and deprives him of the right to receive French citizenship.
Stages of the surrogacy program
The first stage is preparatory. It is connected with the choice of a surrogate mother.
At the next stage of the program, the future surrogate mother must undergo a comprehensive medical examination and receive a certificate signed by a gynecologist, therapist and psychiatrist confirming the fact that pregnancy is not contraindicated for her.
After that, doctors synchronize the menstrual cycles of the genetic and surrogate mothers. It is necessary for the body of the surrogate mother to be ready for the successful attachment of the embryo.
The standard protocol for artificial insemination includes hormonal stimulation of superovulation, the collection of eggs from a woman and seminal fluid from a man, the combination of germ cells in a test tube for the purpose of fertilization, and implantation of the embryo into the uterus of the expectant mother. In some countries, the procedure may be performed with minimal or no ovulation stimulation (that is, in the natural cycle).
To increase the chances of successful in vitro fertilization, micromanipulation ICSI (injection of sperm into the egg) may be prescribed. To increase the likelihood of a successful attachment of the embryo to the inner lining of the uterus, a hatching procedure (excision of the embryonic membrane) is often performed. To make sure that pregnancy has occurred, a woman is tested for the level of the hCG hormone (chorionic gonadotropin) and undergoes an ultrasound examination (ultrasound).
Leading foreign clinics
Surrogate motherhood services are popular in such medical institutions as:
- "Sunny Medical Center" (USA, Florida, Miami);
- clinic "Ichilov" (Israel, Tel Aviv);
- State Center for Obstetrics and Gynecology "MizMedi" (South Korea, Seoul);
- Cheil Women's Hospital (South Korea, Seoul);
- Center for Reproductive Medicine "Zlin" (Czech Republic, Zlin);
- hospital "Sanno" (Japan, Tokyo).
Their specialists provide assistance to both local and foreign infertile couples.
Program price
The cost of surrogate motherhood abroad is calculated on an individual basis. Prices for procedures in all countries are different. The final amount depends on the type of surrogacy (full or partial, with donor or parents' own germ cells), the level of service at the chosen clinic, the specialization and the degree of fame of the attending physician. In all states, the maximum amount of remuneration due to a surrogate mother (if it is permitted by law) and compensation for expenses incurred by her in connection with pregnancy and childbirth are also different.
What is the advantage of surrogacy abroad
Often, infertile couples from Russia decide to have a procedure in highly developed countries, since in many a child receives local citizenship, regardless of which state his genetic parents are citizens of. For example, having been born in the United States to a woman with American citizenship, the baby automatically becomes a US citizen. And in the homeland of genetic parents, he is given a second citizenship. This is a significant “bonus” that the child will be able to use in the future.