Russia: Surrogacy for foreigners banned by law

The Russian parliament today approved a law banning foreigners from using surrogacy in Russia to “protect” children from LGBTQI+ families and prevent organ trafficking.

In recent years, the Russian authorities have adopted many controversial measures against the LGBTI+ community, for example banning “propaganda” in favor of “non-traditional” relationships.

“The law was adopted. Surrogacy is prohibited for foreigners,” the speaker of the Lower House, Vyacheslav Volodin, wrote on Telegram. “This way we will be able to prevent the trafficking of our children, to protect young children from situations where they will find themselves in LGBTQI+ couples or become victims of crimes, mainly organ trafficking,” he assured.

The amendment to the Family Law, which MPs voted today in the third and final reading, provides that couples can resort to the services of a surrogate mother only if at least one of the two parents is a Russian citizen. The bill will now have to be approved by the upper house and then ratified by President Vladimir Putin, which is usually just a formality.

Until now, Russian legislation did not place any restrictions on surrogacy based on the nationality of the prospective parents.

At the beginning of next week, a trial related to the “trafficking” of babies linked to surrogacy will begin in Moscow. Four doctors and two surrogate mothers will sit in court and risk up to 15 years in prison over the death of an infant found in an apartment in the Russian capital in 2020.

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