Police uncover illegal surrogacy scheme that led to deaths of two newborns. PHOTOS
Under the procedural supervision of prosecutors from the Prosecutor General’s Office, the director of a private reproductive technology medical centre in Kyiv was notified of suspicion of recruiting a person for the purpose of exploitation through deception and abuse of the victim’s vulnerable state, committed by a group of persons acting in prior conspiracy.
According to the investigation, the head of the private medical centre recruited a Ukrainian citizen into a surrogacy programme for a foreign married couple, Censor.NET reports.
Details
A Ukrainian woman who was in a vulnerable position due to a lack of permanent employment and financial hardship was recruited into the programme. According to investigators, the terms of the contract were withheld from her, including penalties of up to USD 30,000, a ban on leaving Ukraine without the foreign couple’s permission, and other restrictions that placed her in a position of dependency.
The investigation established that the foreign married couple was admitted to the assisted reproductive technology programme without undergoing the mandatory medical examination. The surrogate mother also did not undergo a proper examination, while the surrogacy agreement was not notarised.
Despite this, embryos were transferred to the woman, and she became pregnant with twins. The children were born prematurely and subsequently died in hospital.
According to investigators, the woman’s reproductive function was exploited for commercial purposes to obtain profit from the foreign married couple.
The medical centre director was detained while travelling towards Ukraine’s state border. At the prosecution’s request, the court ordered him to be held in custody, with the option of posting bail of almost UAH 15 million.
If convicted, he faces up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
Investigative actions are ongoing to prove the involvement of other participants in the scheme in the criminal offence and notify them of suspicion.
