Ukraine surrogacy "trade"

[Douberry]

news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-surrogate-trade-exposed-as-pandemic-leaves-51-babies-stranded-in-kiev-hotel-11988587

I'm sorry but this has made me want to weep. Such a bad situation on so many levels. I really welcome anyone to challenge the notion that commercial surrogacy is truly abhorrent

[littlbrowndog]

Gawd this is human farming.

Is there ever a follow up on what happens to these babies or do the babies jus5 disappear ?

[WeetabixBananaHipsterFFS]

I don’t understand how people can justify getting involved with this abusive industry, no matter how badly they want to be parents

[NotBadConsidering]

I read the other day that Kazuo Ishiguro is releasing a new novel soon. He should write a sequel to Never Let Me Go but instead of children being raised solely for the intention of their organs being harvested and being sterilised, the plot should be that they're raised solely for the gestation of babies. (Their organs can be harvested later, if the babies ever need a transplant .)

I don’t think we are too far away from this.

[WeetabixBananaHipsterFFS]

Also from the most recent Guardian piece:

Sokolova says some surrogates have ended up looking after their babies for months. She recalls one case where a surrogate mother adopted a baby after the biological parents rejected it at the last moment.

They rejected the biological child they had commissioned. Rejected it.

[OhHolyJesus]

This deals with Ukraine and the US during COVID travel restrictions.

"For those who have been unable to reach the birth in time, they have also been faced with the dilemma as to who should best care for the child (in terms of safeguarding their parental rights), until they arrive? The answer is that in the absence of a close friend or relative living stateside, special guardians, not the surrogate, can and should be appointed to care for the child during this interim period. What is the legal situation if the child needs a medical procedure? Who holds the parental authority? At what point(s), under the surrogacy agreement do the parental rights transfer from the surrogate to the intended parents? As the answers to such questions will be dependent upon the local state laws and terms of the surrogacy contract itself, it is crucial that intended parents are fully informed of their options at each stage so that they can plan ahead accordingly."

www.bionews.org.uk/page_150549

Plan accordingly? Get a local friend to look after the baby you bought 24/7 for who knows how long until you can get there and take receipt of your order?

Written by Sarah Williams

“..Sarah’s encyclopaedic knowledge of the law relating to surrogacy and her contacts both domestically and internationally make her the “go to” in this area of work. She was utterly brilliant in a recent and very complex international surrogacy case, leaving no stone unturned getting the best result for her client."

[YoTeQuieroInfinito]

All surrogacy, not just commercial surrogacy is abhorrent

And I agree that all surrogacy is abhorrent

Why is voluntary surrogacy abhorrent?

[OhHolyJesus]

One to read

www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Ukraine/Surrogate-motherhood-and-exploitation-in-Ukraine-203929

[OhHolyJesus]

Someone actually bothered to speak to the surrogate mothers. Women flee post birth having not completed the legal parental rights transfer.

The agents published the mothers’ names online to intimidate them and posted on social media disparaging comments calling them “cattle.”

cyprus-mail.com/2020/08/22/ukrainian-surrogates-leave-babies-in-north-amid-covid-confusion/

[BadgertheBodger]

That article is just makeshift hospitals, forced C-sections and the tragic death of a baby. There is absolutely nothing right about any of it

[Winesalot]

What a mess!! The more I read about surrogacy and the way the women involved (egg donation as well) the less and less I believe in surrogacy as an option for anyone.

[OhHolyJesus]

Head onto the Surrogacy board Wines - you're not alone but there is fairly regular traffic and I've seen threads on there from men coming to Mumsnet, looking for woman to have a baby for them, (saves the agency fee - non profit my arse) unsurprisingly, those threads tend to get deleted.

[Winesalot]

I have been following your posts every so often. The whole discussion around fertility equality is disturbing in the implication of the use of women to achieve this.

[OhHolyJesus]

Just today Wines I've seen it go up a level...

Meanwhile Michael explained that becoming a father was 'a gift', saying: 'For some people in the LGBTQ and heterosexual 'Trying to conceive' community, surrogacy is not obtainable at all, which adds additional stresses to either infertility or creates financial infertility, something many gay US men are faced with due to the increased costs of surrogacy.' 

Not that any of these men are actually infertile.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-8643513/How-children-status-symbol-gay-men-Filmmaker-claims-theres-pressure.html

[OhHolyJesus]

Sharing this as it makes sense now why ITV news covered the surrogate born babies in the Ukraine from the parents perspective.

www.thesun.co.uk/tv/15264572/itv-news-paul-brand-husband-baby-surrogacy/

[Wrongsideofhistorymyarse]

That is very enlightening.

I wonder what happened to those babies. Were they ever collected by the commissioning 'parents'? Or did they age out of the cute stage so were left there?

[ArabellaScott]

Almost scared to ask, Wrongside.

[FannyCann]

It would be nice if some journalist would do a follow up investigation.
Sadly The Times is totally pro surrogacy, looks like ITV news is unlikely to give even handed examination of the issues.
In fact there's a significant lack of critical thinking about the issue in most of the media.

[OhHolyJesus]

As tensions in Ukraine are covered in the media I am revisiting this thread to share this. It is a puff-piece from a Surrogacy Agency, aiming to calm the concerns of the commissioning parents who hope to travel to collect their surrogate-born babies. Noticebly, and as I've come to expect, there is no mention of the surrogate mother, who is pregnant, and living in a country which is under the threat of war. She may be living away from her family, her own children, she is highly likely to be dong this for money (see this www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Ukraine/Surrogate-motherhood-and-exploitation-in-Ukraine-203929) not to mention the stress will surely be affecting the pregnancy...

" Ukraine is one of the world’s leading destinations for heterosexual married couples seeking surrogacy arrangements. It is one of only six countries globally that accepts foreign nationals and recognises both as the legal parents of a child born via surrogacy. It is estimated that over 1000 infants via surrogacy are born to foreigners in Ukraine each year and it is believed at least 10 couples a month from the UK are involved in surrogacy arrangements there."

“We have been in touch with a number of people in the midst of surrogacy arrangements and births of their children in Ukraine, who are understandably very worried about potential war and getting them out of the country as soon as possible.

We have over a decade of experience of working with governments and agencies during a variety of crises to guide parents and their new-borns through safe exit processes.

These include a military coup in Thailand, earthquakes in Nepal, sudden changes in laws in India and Cambodia and of course airspace closures in Ukraine during the worst of Covid.

At the moment it seems relatively calm on the ground and anybody with an impending birth should, indeed must travel, to allow a local birth certificate and travel documents to be processed. Otherwise, the child will remain stateless.

Although the UK Foreign Office has advised against non-essential travel to Ukraine, travel to legalise a child’ parentage is essential. Also despite the UK withdrawing some staff from its Kyiv embassy, about half the staff will stay to keep the embassy open for essential work.”

A notable change from the Ukraine Ministry of Foreign Affairs (who used to allow just one parent to travel by completing a power of attorney, to allow the birth certificate and other paperwork to be issued) now requires that both foreign parents travel. Special exemptions are currently very difficult to get.

For UK nationals, the process of determining nationality and issuing a passport requires numerous checks and usually requires at least four months in Ukraine following the child’s birth.

This is causing high stress amongst parents with no care options for an existing child. These may be obliged to take their entire family into a potential war zone.

Foreign governments have various contingencies in place including creating registries of their citizens currently in Ukraine or travelling to Ukraine for births, so that they can provide emergency support if the situation deteriorates."

www.hippocraticpost.com/global-reach/ukraine-tensions-the-impact-on-surrogacy/

[Delphinium20]

It's horrible what these pregnant mothers must be going through-thank you for highlighting this. It's looking like a potential human rights violation for children and birth mothers.