Surrogacy in Russia

[ScrimpshawTheSecond]

This is a Guardian exclusive.

Heartbreaking article on 'up to 1000' babies left stranded in Russia. What caught my eye, though, was this bit:

' a controversial criminal investigation against doctors spreads fear in the surrogacy industry, which is legal in Russia.' ...

... 'The situation has been complicated by the arrest on human trafficking charges of four doctors and four other employees – including a courier and a translator – from two fertility clinics that work with surrogate pregnancies.

The cases relate to two incidents: the death of a child born to a surrogate from sudden infant death syndrome in January, and the discovery in an apartment in June of five children cared for by two Chinese nannies.

The arrests have spread fear through the industry. Doctors have reportedly declined to treat surrogate mothers for fear of legal liability.'

Ah, forgot the link: www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jul/29/up-to-1000-babies-born-to-surrogate-mothers-stranded-in-russia

Not much mention of the impact this will have on the children. It's all about the parents.

The numbers are shocking, and the links to trafficking.

Yep, Forgot, that figures, really.

And Stripes, I feel it's bad enough that people are hiring women's bodies for this purpose; the fact that it would link into trafficking, coercion, etc hadn't occurred to me. Grim. Extra grim.

Thanks OP, I'm not surprised at all, will read properly later...just posting this in haste as it's everywhere.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/agra/ex-delhi-doctor-running-illegal-surrogacy-operation-in-nepal-agra-police/articleshow/77006879.cms

Can't remember where I saw it now but clinics in Georgia will do implantation in surrogate mothers from Thailand or wherever it was, or other countries where it is illegal to do it in that country. There was that case of an extremely wealthy young Asian businessman who had a number of women 'on the books' and they were flown to Georgia or Ukraine for the treatment and the agent got suspicious. I'll look it out later...

I suspect there are lots of international connections between countries to circumvent country laws. Russia, Georgia, Ukraine...who knows what the total of babies is, and how many are born with brain damage, die or are abandoned. There is no international law and no one really knows what goes on.

Here it is

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-43123658

*In 2014, he was investigated by Interpol for human trafficking after it emerged he had fathered 16 surrogate children in Thailand.

His Bangkok apartment was raided and police found nine surrogate babies, nannies and a pregnant surrogate mother there.*

@ForgotAboutThis

Not much mention of the impact this will have on the children. It's all about the parents.

My thoughts exactly.

Foreign adoption (in some countries) turned into a money racket with the selling of babies for vast sums of money until international adoption law was changed in the early 1990s. Well meaning prospective adoptive parents were persuaded or coerced into handing over cash in countries like Romania, Russia and parts of Asia and Africa.

It's not surprising that surrogacy would also become a money-maker for the unscrupulous. I wouldn't be surprised by anything about such an industry.

Thanks OP. I think as far as Russia and Ukraine are concerned McMafia is in charge of the fertility clinics. It amazes me that people are prepared to risk so much and go there to buy a baby, particularly women who will go there for egg collection as part of the surrogacy process where they plan for their own egg to be used.

Update on the industry. Couples from UK buying babies under the most dubious circumstances. Surrogacy tourism needs to be made illegal in the same way paedophile tourism is.

www.nytimes.com/2020/08/15/world/europe/ukraine-baby-surrogate.html

Why isn't international adoption even discussed as surrogacy? A couple of weeks ago, in Chennai, it was revealed that poor women were being told they had given birth to stillborn babies, who were actually alive and given for adoption.

Nobody bothers about that, is seen as altruistic and selfless.