The State Duma may adopt a bill prohibiting surrogate mothers from giving birth to foreigners
Photo: Kirill Braga / RIA Novosti
The State Duma wanted to ban Russian surrogate mothers from giving birth to foreigners: the corresponding draft “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation” may be adopted in the first reading in February. On Monday, January 17, Izvestia writes with reference to the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption.
The project proposes to establish a ban for foreigners and stateless persons to use surrogate mothers in Russia.
According to parliamentarians, this is due to the well-known cases of death of children who were specially born to be taken abroad. The document is ready to be supported by the State Duma Committee on Family, Women and Children, which is a co-executor of the bill.
In addition, the obligatory acquisition of Russian citizenship by children is introduced if they are born or were nurtured by a surrogate mother on the day this ban comes into force.
As Anatoly Vyborny, deputy chairman of the Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, clarified, Russia is one of the countries where surrogate motherhood is possible, while in Germany, Austria, Italy, France, and the Baltic countries it is prohibited. “In the UK, it exists only on a free basis, that is, the attitude to the child as a commodity is excluded. In Switzerland, surrogacy is prohibited by the Constitution. Therefore, I believe that the presence of surrogate motherhood in our country should not turn our state into a channel for child trafficking,” Vyborny explained.
In December 2021, Vasily Piskarev, head of the Security and Anti-Corruption Committee, reported that a bill was submitted to the State Duma to completely ban the services of surrogate mothers for foreigners in Russia. “With this bill, we actually support those Russians – potential parents who would like to, but cannot have children for medical reasons,” Piskarev said.
