Friendly Ukrainian Law

Ukraine is a surrogacy friendly state unlike most European countries where surrogacy and egg donation are banned according to the law. In Ukraine, medical programs with the use of assisted methods or reproductive medicine are conducted legally and regulated by the Family code of Ukraine, Law of Ukraine “Basis of legislation of Ukraine about health care” and Civil Code of Ukraine. No adoption of your own child is required, no procedures to obtain court order. Ukrainian law allows couples who used surrogacy to receive birth certificate with the names of intended parents. Surrogate mothers and donors have no any parental rights and duties concerning children born with their help. Conducting gestational surrogate motherhood doctors create embryos using gametes of intended parents or donated ones and through the IVF procedure transfer them to surrogate mother’s womb. In the reproductive medicine sphere Ukrainian legislators have proven to be more progressive than the main part of their European colleagues.

Legal aspects of surrogacy in Ukraine are regulated by:

Article 48 of the Law of Ukraine “Basis of legislation of Ukraine about health care”:

Artificial fertilization and embryo implantation are performed according to conditions and order, prescribed by the Ministry of Health Care of Ukraine, for medical grounds of women of age, which undergoes this procedure upon written consent of spouses, anonymity of donor and medical secrecy.

Article 123 of The Family code of Ukraine (as amended from December 22, 2006 No. 524-V) regulates affiliation of the child, born in case of assisted reproductive technologies (ART):

Item 1. If the wife is fertilized by artificial procreation techniques upon written consent of her husband, the latter is registered as the father of the child born by his wife.

Item 2. If an ovum conceived by the spouses (man and woman) is implanted to another woman, the spouses shall be the parents of the child.

Item 3. Whenever an ovum conceived by the husband with another woman is implanted to his wife, the child is considered to be affiliated to the spouses.

Order of child registration is regulated by the Decree of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine No. 140/5 from November 18, 2003 “About amendments and additions to Rules of civil registration in Ukraine:

Item 2.2. In case of child birth by the woman who was implanted by fetus, conceived by the spouses, the child is registered upon the declaration of spouses, who gave their consent for implantation. In this case together with the document, confirming the fact of child birth, the woman has to provide notarized written consent for registration spouse as legal parents of the child. Thereby, there is a certain note in column “For notes”: “The citizen (surname, name, patronymic) is the mother of the child according to medical birth certificate of 103/о-95(z0266-95) form.”

Civil Code of Ukraine (as amended from January 21, 2010 No. 1822-VI) regulates who has the right to participate in assisted reproductive program:

Article 281. Women or men of full age are entitled to have been cured with assisted reproductive technologies in accordance with their medical indications in order, prescribed by the law.

Order of the Ministry of Healthcare of Ukraine from December 23, 2008 No 771 “Approval of order manual of appliance of assisted reproductive technologies” establishes order of ART appliance.

Subparagraph 3 of item1. Certified medical institutions are entitled to perform artificial fertilization.

Subparagraph.4 of item 1. Patients are entitled to freely choose a medical institution for ART treatment.

Subparagraph 6 of item 1. ART are applied according to medical indications upon written free consent of patients and Statement of a patient/patients of ART appliance.

Subparagraph 7 of item. 1. Woman and/or man of full age upon their medical indications are entitled to apply to ART treatment according to article 281 of Civil Code of Ukraine.

Subparagraph 5.1. Donation of gametes is a procedure, during which, according to written voluntary consent, donors grant their germinal cells – gametes (sperm, oocytes), or embryos for use in infertility treatment by other persons.

Implantation of an embryo is conducted according to medical indications of a full-aged woman, who undergoes such procedure, provided written consent of the patients, ensuring of a donor’s anonymity and maintenance of medical secrecy.

Subparagraph 5.2. Donors of gametes cannot undertake parental rights towards a future child.

Subparagraph 5.5. Oocyte donors can be:

 -female acquaintances and relatives;

 -anonymous voluntary donors;

-patients of ART programs, who according to written voluntary consent give part of their oocytes to recipient.

Subparagraph 5.6. Requirements for oocyte donors:

 -woman in age from 20 to 32;

 -presence of a born healthy child;

 -absence of negative phenotypic manifestations;

 -satisfactory somatic health;

 -absence of medical contra-indications for oocyte donation;

 -absence of hereditary diseases;

 -absence of harmful habits: drug addiction, alcoholism, toxic substances abuse.

Subparagraph 5.10. List of necessary documents for oocyte donation:

 -agreement with the oocyte donor, voluntary written informed consent for participation in donation, controlled stimulation of ovulation and oocyte retrieval;

 -statement of a written consent of husband.

Subparagraph 7.4. A healthy woman of full age, who gave birth to a healthy child upon her written free consent and absence of medical contra-indications, is entitled to perform surrogacy.

Subparagraph 7.10. If parents of a child born by a Surrogate are foreign citizens they shall inform the address of their residence before processing of documents and departure from country for patronage by specialists-pediatrics and for supervision.

Subparagraph 7.11. Registration of a child born through ART by means of surrogacy is conducted according to the order set by the current legislation of Ukraine at the presence of a certificate of genetic relationship of parents (mother or father) with a child.