Surrogacy in Ukraine: Challenges and Ethical Dilemmas

Introduction

Due to the unclarified surrogacy legal regulations in Ukraine, the continuous surrogacy business opportunities pose both negative impact and unethical threats that challenges today’s society and values. Currently, the country is having too little disciplines that regulate the practice of surrogacy, only two Articles in the Family Code of Ukraine cannot provide concrete foundation to the breadth of issues that arise in surrogacy (Igor, 2018). Essentially, the problem that has derived from the lack of legal regulation is that Ukrainian women are misinterpreting the profitability of being surrogate mothers and failing to recognize the ethical dilemma of buying and selling a baby.

Safety Concerns of Surrogacy

Of course, the main reason behind the growing market in surrogacy in Ukraine is based on its profitability. Annually, the amount of travelers who travel to Ukraine for surrogacy service is mesmerizing, for the most part, they come from countries where surrogacy is banned. Additionally, each surrogacy procedure would cost the clients about 20 to 45 thousand dollars (Igor, 2018), Although the amount of money seems to be a lot, the surrogacy agency would not allow the women to receive a paycheck in full. Often times, the majority portion of a paycheck would be collected by the surrogacy agencies. Considering the fact that surrogate mothers are the main contributors in this procedure, and that they would only be able to do child bearing process one at a time with the time span sitting at least nine to ten month, the profitability aspect of surrogacy becomes questionable. Not to mention that reporters and credible news outlets have exposed the surrogacy agencies’ mistreatments and exploitations to the mothers (Beart & Daniel, 2019). Basically, the lack of legal regulation would only push the naive Ukrainan women into the snake pit and harm the social value judgements.

According to David Beart’s article, Should Surrogacy in Ukraine be an Option for You?, he mentioned that there is a growing number of reports that show problematic surrogacy agencies recruit and exploit poor women who have few options to make a living (Beart & Daniel, 2019). In some cases, surrogacy agents would offer the mothers poor medical care and awful treatment when they are conceived. Due to the lack of clarified legal regulations and strict law enforcement, the market of surrogacy in Ukraine has become so lucrative that even the black market of marketing surrogate mothers’ womb has arose. Without a restrictive standards of regulations, Ukraine surrogate mothers and women who are thinking of becoming a surrogate mothers would continue to be exposed to danger as their basic wage is not guaranteed and the social welfare is not granted to them. Moreover, little do they know, the so-called high paying job would only have 10 to 20 percent of the revenue reserved for each procedure conducted by the surrogate mothers (Igor, 2018). Unfortunately, the government does not seem to be interested in overturning this situation because no proposal of legislation has been conducted regarding surrogacy problem.

Ethical Dilemma of Surrogacy

Besides the profitability and safety aspect of becoming a surrogate mother, ethical dilemma of purchasing and selling a human being is also a common situation where both buyers of the babies and surrogate mothers would have the face. In Michael Sandel’s book, Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do, he talked about a case of a lawsuit that took place in 1986 called the “Baby M” case (Sandel, 2016). Baby M case was an unsettlement lawsuit as a surrogate mother decided that she no longer wanted to sell the baby she bore for the buyers. Eventually, the case turned into a detrimental process for the surrogate mother when the judge decided that the child must be given to the buyers as they have offered the price to such service; hence, the buyers must be able to enjoy the service and the surrogate mother had no other option but to obligate her part of the deal. Similar cases of Baby M is not uncommon, in fact, many first-time surrogate mothers would experience an identical psychological dilemma when the baby that grows within her is going to another household. This is understandable because that is how the nature of motherhood work. However, this anti human nature procedure would create further ethical issues when more inexperienced surrogate mothers have to face this sudden turn of events.

Surrogacy Regulations in Ukraine

In spite of all these, Ukraine is still a popular destination for people who need surrogacy service. Unlike most developed countries, surrogacy in Ukraine is famous for its low costs and beautiful environment for tour sightseeing. For many clients who are looking for surrogacy services, pricing is usually their main concern, and the cost for surrogacy in Ukraine can be as low as 50-70% cheaper than developed countries that offer surrogacy service (Intersono IVF clinic, 2016). Furthermore, the travel costs and living expenses when a couple decides to purchase surrogacy service in Ukraine is also the lowest among all developing countries that offer surrogacy, which includes Mexico and India. At the same time, another attraction of Ukraine is that it has a rich historical context and beautiful scenarios across the country, additionally, clients from North America regions and other parts of Europe do not need visas to enter Ukraine. This implies that the process of purchasing surrogacy service and the waiting time for the future parents would be more comforting and enjoyable if it takes place in Ukraine.

Nevertheless, if the government continues to ignore the lack of surrogacy oriented regulations, the cons of this service would only bring more cons than pros into the Ukrainian people. Think about the young ladies who know nothing about the value of their surrogacy paycheck, if there are no boundaries to protect them, the outcomes would only be devastating women who earned barely anything after 10 month long of pregnancy. Or even worse, the terrible healthcare and treatments that surrogacy agencies offer would put the young women in serious health conditions. With that in mind, when the surrogate mothers is forced to part ways with her child, the ethical struggle could cause traumatic mental issues and pose threats to Ukrainian social value judgement.

Conclusion

All in all, since it would be difficult to overturn the legalized surrogacy industry in Ukraine, the government should understand the essentiality of having legal regulation to protect surrogate mothers and promote a justified social value judgement. The first step for this renovation program should begin by making it mandatory for surrogacy agencies to have operation permits before running their businesses. This approach would allow the government to gain control of shutting down inappropriate surrogacy agency if law enforcers find evidence of exploitation and poor healthcare conditions for the surrogate mothers. Another approach would be setting basic requirements for the employment of surrogate mothers, make sure each dedicated surrogate mothers would receive the compensation they deserve. Lastly, the Ukraine government must hold regular seminars for women who would like to be a surrogate mother, this is to provide them with knowledge and understanding of this occupation and educate them about the potential ethical dilemmas that mothers would have to face when giving up her baby. It is essential for you to stand up for legislation regarding surrogacy because it is the only way to make surrogacy a sustainable and safe occupation for the future generation.

Works Cited

1. Beart, D., & Daniel, S. (2019, February 15). Should Surrogacy in Ukraine be an Option for You? Retrieved from https://www.professorshouse.com/should-surrogacy-in-ukraine-be-an-option-for-you/.
2. Igor, K. (2018, June 1). Kydalov & Partners. Retrieved from http://kydalov-partners.com/surrogacy-in-ukraine-positive-and-negative-aspects/.
3. Intersono IVF clinic - IVF|Egg donation|Surrogacy. (2016, March 16). Surrogacy in Ukraine – main advantages. Retrieved from https://intersono-ivf.com/surrogacy-in-ukraine-main-advantages.
4. Sandel, M. J. (2016). Justice: whats the right thing to do? Vancouver, B.C.: Langara College.