An illegal surrogacy scheme for foreigners was uncovered in Kyiv
On August 6, law enforcement officials notified the director of a private reproductive technology medical center in Kyiv that she was a suspect in a case involving the organization of an illegal surrogacy scheme for foreigners. According to the investigation, women may have been recruited into the program through deception and by exploiting their vulnerable situation.
According to the investigation, in November 2025, he, together with the program coordinator and medical staff, organized an illegal commercial surrogacy program for a foreign couple.
A Ukrainian woman was recruited to participate; she was in a vulnerable situation due to a lack of steady employment and financial hardship. According to investigators, the terms of the contract were concealed from her, including penalties of up to $30,000, a ban on leaving Ukraine without the foreign couple’s permission, and other restrictions that placed her in a position of dependence.
The investigation found that the foreign couple was admitted to the assisted reproductive technology program without undergoing the required medical examination. The surrogate mother also did not undergo a proper medical examination, and the surrogacy agreement was not notarized.
Despite this, embryos were transferred to the woman, after which she became pregnant with twins. The children were born prematurely and later died in the hospital.
According to investigators, the woman’s reproductive function was exploited for commercial purposes to profit from a foreign couple.
The director of the medical center was detained while traveling toward Ukraine’s state border. At the request of the prosecutor’s office, the court imposed a preventive measure on him—detention, with the alternative of posting bail of nearly 15 million hryvnias.
In accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court verdict.
Source: Office of the Prosecutor General
Earlier, the Bureau of Economic Security in Volyn uncovered a scheme involving fictitious fuel.
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