During the first reading, the Russian State Duma passed a bill that prohibits foreigners and stateless persons from using the services of surrogate mothers in Russia.
The bill was submitted to the State Duma in December by a group of deputies, led by Vice-Speaker Peter Tolstoy and Senator Margarita Pavlova. According to Vice-Speaker Tolstoy, the adoption of this law should put an end to the sale of Russian children abroad and allow control over the fate of the displaced minors, which is now glaringly absent, even against the background of scandals about the death of children and their sale for the purpose of harvesting their organs.
Once the legislation is amended, only married couples where at least one of the spouses is a Russian citizen, or a single woman who has Russian citizenship and for whom bearing and giving birth is impossible due to medical indications will be able to use the services of surrogate mothers in Russia. Only a Russian citizen can become a surrogate mother.
Based on the words of deputy Nina Ostanina, we can expect this to be the first step toward a complete ban on surrogacy in Russia.
Former deputy of the State Duma Oksana Pushkina, the Russian Association of Human Reproduction (RAHR), partner of the Pen & Paper Bar Association Yekaterina Tyagai, and Olga Gnezdilova, lawyer of the Legal Initiative project, predictably oppose the initiative, which has long been discussed by lawmakers. The RAHR refers to surrogacy as “medical care” and on that basis calls its restriction unconstitutional.
You can sign a petition to ban surrogacy and the sale of children to foreigners on CitizenGo.
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