Ukraine: a new surrogacy hotspot
by Xavier Symons | 17 Feb 2018 |
With several Asian countries having outlawed commercial surrogacy, more and more desperate couples are descending on Ukraine in search of surrogate mothers.
Analysts say that demand for surrogacy in Ukraine has increased dramatically in the last two years, with rough estimates suggesting that around 500 surrogate pregnancies are taking place annually.
Ukraine's liberal laws attract people, BBC reporters suggest. The country recognises the "intending parents" as the biological parents from the moment of conception and places no limit on how much a surrogate may be paid - essentially creating an open market where women can demand their chosen price.
Yet the process doesn’t always run smoothly. There are unverified stories of embryos being secretly swapped, poor health screening and operators taking on too many clients to be able to offer the adequate level of care.
"We have seen examples where Ukrainian agencies have refused to pay the surrogate if she doesn't adhere to strict requirements, if she miscarries," says Sam Everingham, director of the Sydney-based charity Families Through Surrogacy.
The Hague Conference on Private International Law is currently drafting an international convention dealing with transnational surrogacy agreements and parentage. Lobbyists have urged that the convention condemn the practice of commercial surrogacySaturday, February 17, 2018
Last year the London Telegraph ran a travel article about Belgium, “10 reasons why Belgium is not as boring as you think”. A bit patronising, right?
Personally, I’d never call a country which has dared to legalise euthanasia boring. Anything but. This is a defiant poke in the eye to hundreds of years of Western civilisation. Whether you agree with Belgium’s regime of legalised euthanasia or not, it is a wildly exciting experiment in disrupting established social norms.
The latest news is that a whistleblower has accused the country’s euthanasia commission of breaking the law, muzzling dissent, and packing the commission with euthanasia practitioners. In other countries this would be called corruption. The whistleblower's letter to the Belgian Parliament is a searing indictment of a respected institution. You would think that the Belgian media would be baying for blood.
Nope. It was an American news agency, Associated Press, which broke the story. As far as I can see, it has been reported around the world, but not in Belgium. It’s a funny kind of journalism which ignores such a big story. Perhaps the media there believes that Belgium really is as boring as you think. Or perhaps they are in the pocket of the euthanasia lobby.
 Michael Cook Editor BioEdge |
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