Modern assisted reproductive technologies allow many infertile couples to feel all the joys of the appearance, and after the upbringing, of their genetic child. One of the most controversial procedures is surrogacy. At present, such programs can be said to be equally allowed and prohibited throughout the world.

In Russia, for example, an infertile couple can easily use the service of a surrogate mother to carry a baby. Within a few recent years there has been considerable debate about what is passed on to a child who is born with the participation of three parties. Let's take a closer look at this issue.

On the topic of what is transmitted to a child from a surrogate mother, a lot of medical and scientific research. The reason for their start was twofold opinions, in which some argue that the baby does not have genetic connection with a surrogate mother, others are convinced that such a connection does exist.

Thanks to long-term studies conducted by scientists from Stanford University, together with specialists from the institute, which conducts research into the problem of infertility, located in Valencia, they proved the ability of a surrogate mother to transfer genetic material to her unborn baby.

Based on this, we can conclude that the body of every woman who carries someone else's baby inside herself has direct influence on the formation of hereditary data that the child receives from genetic parents.

Confirmations

The study that was conducted by this group of scientists made it possible to prove the fact that the surrogate mother chosen by the parents is not just an "incubator", as was commonly believed for many years.

All the genetic features that a surrogate mother possesses in one way or another affect the fetus during its intrauterine development. So, if the surrogate mother's genes are stronger, then the baby will receive certain features of appearance and character from her. In fact, because of this discovery, medical professionals in this area have faced multiple ethical questions.

As scientists said, the genetic material of a surrogate mother can be transferred to an unborn child, even if sperm and eggs of biological parents were used for fertilization and conception. Numerous clinical and laboratory studies have also been conducted.

In the course of such an analysis, it was possible to determine the fact that microRNA molecules, which are unambiguously present on the mucous membrane of the uterine cavity of a woman bearing a child, are able to change the hereditary data of the baby already at the stage of implantation, when the cell has developed to a blastocyst.

The experts also noted that there are 27 specific miRNAs that have the ability to change the expression of data. Of these, as many as 6 penetrate the waters that surround the fetus. Based on this, we can conclude that it is the body of a woman carrying a child that has a direct impact on which genes the baby will have and what they will have to replace.

Actually, this study allows us to understand why, quite often, surrogate mothers, after the baby is born, cannot refuse him, and consider the child to be genetically related. This should be known and taken into account when applying to surrogate mothers by couples who have decided on substitute motherhood. Also, the baby can receive from the surrogate mother traits and appearance, the state and characteristics of health, some habits.

The appearance in the family of Alla Pugacheva and Maxim Galkin of twins, whom she endured and gave birth to star couple surrogate mother, rekindled public interest in the problems of surrogate motherhood.

This topic itself has ceased to seem exotic over the past 10 years. And the bearing of a cub by a woman for a childless couple has moved into the sphere of medical and domestic services. And these services are acquired by everyone great popularity. The demand for them is growing and, according to the laws of the market, the supply is also growing.

Today, finding a surrogate mother is easy: just type a request in an Internet search engine and you will receive a lot of offers from all kinds of medical centers, agencies and firms specializing, as is usually written on their websites, in the fight against infertility. All, as follows from the advertisement, have their own database, guarantee the "quality" of surrogate mothers and professional medical and legal support.

Konstantin Svitnev is the head of one of the largest such Russian companies, agreed to answer the questions of "RG".

What firms are more involved in surrogate motherhood - state-owned or commercial?

Konstantin Svitnev: The state does not provide such services. Therefore, all these centers, agencies, firms are commercial. In fact, they are just intermediaries between childless couples and surrogate mothers who are ready to help such people in solving this problem of theirs.

And how much does parental happiness acquired with someone else's help cost a family?

Konstantin Svitnev: The range of prices is great, everything is determined individually and based on the requests of both parties. total amount consists of such indicators as the selection of a surrogate mother, medical examination, legal support, fee to the surrogate mother. But one of the clients, for example, wants a surrogate mother from Tambov region all 9 months was next to them, say, in Moscow. Then the payment for her accommodation and maintenance is added to the original amount. And someone, on the contrary, decides to save money and from the set of services offered by the agency chooses only, for example, the selection of a surrogate mother, hoping to deal with all other procedures on their own. Sometimes one of the close relatives of a childless woman acts as a surrogate mother, usually free of charge. And some couples want their surrogate mother to have a personal chef or chauffeur during her pregnancy.

But there are probably some average prices, right? How much, for example, can the entire program cost "from and to"? And how much can a surrogate mother "earn" herself?

Konstantin Svitnev: If we talk about the full program, from the selection of a surrogate mother to the issuance of a birth certificate for a child, - from 1.5 to 3 million rubles. "Mom's" fees start somewhere from 800 thousand. The largest fee paid to surrogate mothers by our company's clients is 100,000 euros.

But they also write about fees of 200 thousand dollars or more.

Konstantin Svitnev: And such things happen. Sometimes a surrogate mother wants to receive, for example, an expensive foreign car or an apartment in Moscow as payment for her services.

Judging even by the ads on the Web, many women offer themselves as surrogate mothers on an individual basis, as they say, "without intermediaries."

Konstantin Svitnev: There are a lot of them. And this is a very dangerous business. Firstly, the risk of getting scammed is very high. Or just an irresponsible woman who in 2-3 months can change her mind and have an abortion. And there are times when, having given birth, in fact, to someone else's child, a woman decides to keep it for herself, not to give it to biological parents. And no one - both in the first and in the second case - will not be able to stop her. No clients, no police, no court, no god. The fact is that according to our legislation, all rights to a child belong to a surrogate mother.

Do Russian women become surrogate mothers for foreign spouses?

Konstantin Svitnev: Russian women willingly offer their services as surrogate mothers for European and American childless couples. English-language sites specializing in the search for surrogate mothers are full of ads of women from Russia. The information in them is usually short: name, age, height / weight, health status, Family status, religion. The desired fee for the provision of services must be indicated: from 15 to 30 thousand dollars and monthly payment of expenses from 200 to 500 dollars. All women guarantee that after childbirth they will give the child to genetic parents.

Such announcements can be seen not only by clinics that perform operations with surrogate mothers, but also by potential customers. Russian women are more interested in giving birth in the United States, although many criteria must be met for this. For example, to be married and have children of their own, and the husband must agree that his wife bears someone else's child.

From a legal point of view

Alexey Kupriyanov, Honorary Advocate of Russia:

By law, all reproductive technologies in the Russian Federation are used exclusively for the treatment of infertility. If a woman simply does not want to carry her child, for example, preferring professional activity, then surrogate motherhood is prohibited for her. It is always attended by two women. And in the birth certificate there may be a surname of the third - barren. The male cells of the father can fertilize the egg of one female donor, bear the fetus - a surrogate mother, and a barren "customer" can legally become the mother. Surrogate mother allowed only to bear someone else's egg. She carries the egg of a potential parent who is deprived of the ability to bear, or an egg taken from another female donor for an infertile woman. And most importantly, a surrogate mother can keep the child ordered by her.

And how are they?

In most countries of the world, surrogate motherhood is prohibited. In France and Germany, doctors and intermediaries are held criminally liable for such operations. And in Austria, Norway, Sweden and in some US states, both genetic parents and a surrogate mother can go to jail. In Britain and Australia, only non-commercial surrogacy is allowed, while in Israel and the Netherlands, only its advertising is prohibited. In Belgium, Greece, Spain, Finland, surrogate motherhood is not regulated by law, but actually takes place. It is allowed in a number of US states, South Africa, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Kazakhstan.

With the help of surrogate mothers, 220 thousand children were born in the world.

Despite unsubstantiated claims that a child by a surrogate mother is at risk social problems, actual research shows otherwise. Objective research on this topic has found no difference between families with children born through assisted reproduction and more traditional families. According to researcher Susan Golombok, at the Center for Family Studies University of Cambridge, families created through assisted reproduction or surrogacy do not risk disrupting the development of the child or the emotional functioning of the family. The professor's research found no evidence that children born under the "surrogate motherhood" program or their families suffer from any problems.

Although society is still not well aware of the level of relationships in new non-traditional families formed through the use of artificial insemination methods, these new types of families are probably not at risk of parenting or problems with the adaptation of children (IVF with a surrogate mother). In general, the findings show that the absence of a genetic or gestational relationship between parents and children does not adversely affect the quality of the relationship between parent and child, and the development of these children.

The study not only challenged conventional wisdom that families or children through surrogacy suffer because of inadequate communication during pregnancy. But the findings suggest that structural aspects of the family, such as the number of family members, gender, sexual orientation, and parental genetic relationships, are less important for children's psychological well-being than the quality of family relationships.

In this regard, it is easy to conclude that surrogate families will often even outperform many traditional families, because the extra care and effort involved in finding and starting a family in this way ensures that children are truly wanted and long-awaited. In addition, often the creation of families through surrogate motherhood is preceded by a long experience failed attempts conception through others reproductive methods. Parents in this case long for the child and appreciate it more, which contributes to the establishment of a deeper and stronger bond between parents and the child. It is not necessary to give birth to a child in order to love him.

What do a surrogate mother and a child have in common?

Gestational surrogacy is often joked about as a "bun in the oven!" This joke, oddly enough, accurately reflects the process - we take the egg of the intended mother, fertilize it with the father's sperm and place it in the surrogate mother's uterus for 9 months to get a baby. The gestational mother has no genetic connection to the child she is carrying, which is seen as one of the main advantages of the gestational surprocess.

Even though the embryo receives genetic material from its parents (or an egg/sperm donor), there are things that a child takes from a surrogate mother that the gestational carrier does affect the fetus she is carrying (the surrogacy center). Nutrition of the surrogate mother, her physical activity, the quality of the air she breathes, even the sounds that surround her affect the baby she is carrying. And of course, all of these factors come to the mind of parents when they are looking for a woman to be their gestational carrier, along with her excellent health and successful experience pregnancy and childbirth. Couples understandably want a healthy and stable environment for their baby's first nine months because we know that exposures inside the womb can have long-term effects on the baby.

Will a gestational carrier or egg donor pass on their DNA to the baby to be gestated? No, that doesn't seem to be the case (at least as scientists now understand it). Do surrogate mothers affect the manifestation of certain genetic features in the fetus? Yes, reproductive scientists confirm this fact.

Bye state of the art Since the development of reproduction and genetics does not require a complete scan of the genetic profile of the gestational carrier, intended parents deserve the right to know about all the factors that may affect the health of their child before signing the consent and contract for the birth of a baby by a woman with some hereditary disease.

Children from surrogate mothers reviews

Parents and their children share a deep psychological bond that does not fade with time. This is what makes parents instinctively want to care for and educate their children, and it is important for children's psychological well-being, sense of security and self-esteem. When a child is born through surrogacy, the emotional transfer must be from the surrogate family to the intended parents. This emotional transfer allows the child to start communicating with his parents and vice versa. The emotional transfer is the culmination of each person's hard work in the surrogacy process. This is the most exciting and emotional part and the time when parents need to be as focused on the needs of the baby as possible.

Parents and children who have found each other through such an experience as surrogate motherhood speak only positively about it and consider their families as traditional and normal as others (ethical problems of surrogate motherhood).

Thanks to the constant development of reproductive technologies, many couples who have certain problems with conceiving children still have a chance to become the genetic parents of their child.

In particular, there is such a practice as concluding a legal agreement, according to which a woman agrees to bear a baby for a couple, and subsequently transfer it to biological parents. Many people have concerns about whether a surrogate mother can keep the child and refuse partially or in full from fulfilling her obligations.

Currently in the territory Russian Federation Surrogacy is an official and legal service. There are several laws to regulate this process.

To avoid conflicts and problem situations, namely those when the surrogate mother refused to give the child to the biological parents. It should be concluded with a woman before starting this process legal contract. However, even such measures cannot be an unequivocal guarantee that both parties will comply with and act in each other's interests.

Based on the agreement, it is first necessary to draw up and legitimize a document confirming the consent of the surrogate mother that the child will be recorded as biological parents in the appropriate birth record book. At the same time, everyone needs to understand that after carrying out this procedure, it is impossible to refer to it if the process of confirming maternity or challenging it is started.

At the moment when the biological parents will register the child in the registry office, they will need to submit all the documents, according to which it will be determined that the surrogate mother is not against these actions.

But after this procedure, the surrogate mother will no longer have any rights to change her mind. Article 52 part 3 of the Family Code refers to this. It states that after the registration of the child in the relevant institution, the persons who carried out the registration are considered his parents.

Even if the surrogate mother starts trial regarding the contestation of motherhood, the decision, with a high degree of probability, will be made in favor of the biological parents.

Reasons for rejection

Currently, there are only two reasons why surrogate mothers do not want to give the child to biological parents after the birth of the baby. Each of the factors is exclusively emotional and human in nature:

  1. Some surrogate mothers cannot cope with their emotional and mental state. They are unstable and weakened in this regard, therefore they do not want to give up a child who was born for 9 months.
  2. The second moment is the desire for profit or ordinary fraud on the part of the surrogate mother. In this case, surrogate mothers resort to blackmail. This helps them to get the biological parents to increase the fee for the provision of their services, or change the conditions of support.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to predict how this or that woman will behave. Whether she will be able to cope with her psycho-emotional state, even she does not know. Sometimes there are situations when the surrogate mother does not give the child to the parents. This is not excluded in girls with a stable psyche. Based on the laws of the Russian Federation, the transfer of a child is carried out only after the woman officially signs the refusal of the baby.

Also, situations are not ruled out when, during the entire period of pregnancy, the surrogate mother thinks that she can easily part with the child after his birth. However, after the birth of the baby, everything changes. Then long trials begin to challenge motherhood. Biological parents must be prepared for this.

Legal side

For the world practice in the field of jurisprudence, the legislation of the CIS countries and Russia is considered quite liberal. However, it is characterized by a certain systematic approach. It is thanks to him that it is possible to solve certain problems that arose during the registration of substitute motherhood.

Now there are many tricks and "holes" in the laws. Due to them, scammers can take advantage of the position of biological parents and cash in on their problem. In all orders, articles, laws and acts, only a partial settlement of disputes is prescribed.

The majority of lawyers are sure that if a certain act was created at the highest legal level, it would be easier. There it is necessary to highlight all aspects, subtleties and nuances of the process. However, at present, there is no such document in Russia. Therefore, from time to time there are situations when the surrogate mother does not give up the child.

It is precisely due to such "white spots" in the legislation that biological parents are an excellent bait target for scammers who implement their plans on the problems of other people.

Litigation

It is important to understand that no matter what contract is concluded with a surrogate mother, only she has the right at birth to sign consent to the recording of genetic parents by officials. It is this fact that becomes a stumbling block in the entire process, which is already complicated. For example, there are cases when a surrogate mother increased the amount of the fee for the provision of her services, and only after that agreed to the refusal procedure.

You also need to know that if a trial starts, then, even with a good lawyer, the court is very likely to decide in favor of the woman who was carrying the child. Accordingly, even if the child has already been registered, according to the decision received, the surrogate mother can stay with the child if the biological parents did not pay her the amount of the fee higher than previously declared.

For a married couple, the outcome of events is extremely unpleasant. In addition to losing a long-awaited child, they are also forced to pay a large amount of money to a person who has not fulfilled his legal obligations.

The whole complexity of this process lies in the fact that the court does not have any right to consider the child as the subject of the contract, therefore, it is very difficult, and even almost impossible to prove the right of biological parents to raise a child who was carried by a surrogate mother.

The main regulatory document for the actions of both parties is an agreement between a woman who agreed to bear a child and future biological parents. On its basis, the disputes that have arisen are resolved, including in situations. When the surrogate mother refused to give the children to the parents.

Actions of parents

It often happens that a woman agreed to become a surrogate mother, but she doubts whether she will be able to give the child to biological parents. In this case, it is necessary to turn to highly qualified lawyers and enlist the support of the court, since only in this instance all issues of substitute motherhood are resolved.

The likelihood that, with a properly drawn up and legally certified contract, the child will be returned to the woman who bore him is minimized. It is important to get the consent of the surrogate mother in a timely manner to a written refusal of the child in favor of the biological parents.

But do not forget that the baby himself is in no way the subject of the contract, in fact, like any other living person in conditions modern world. That is why the transfer of rights to it by lawyers and courts is never 100% guaranteed.

Actually, a certain amount of risk and the likelihood that the court will remain on the side of the woman who was carrying the baby still remains.

If we consider legal rights surrogate mother for a child, then they can be called primary. That is why, in order to avoid any conflict situations, future biological parents must draw up a competent contract and agree it with the surrogate mother, and then sign it.

The document must prescribe every little thing, starting with detailed description conception process, and ending with the agreement of a written waiver of born child. Also, parents should take a responsible approach to the choice of a surrogate mother, and if necessary, ask a lawyer to accompany the entire pregnancy process.

Failure Prevention

Biological parents, if they resort to substitute motherhood for the first time, will be able to choose the right surrogate mother on their own with a low degree of probability. First of all, there is a huge probability that they will become a target for scammers. It is also possible that the chosen woman will be mentally unstable. This will lead to the fact that after the birth of the baby, he wants to keep him for himself.

However, there is a solution to the problem, and for its implementation it is worth contacting a specialized and proven company that has good feedback and has been working in the field of substitute motherhood for a long time.

The conclusion and drafting of the contract is the most important part of the whole process. Thanks to him, biological parents and surrogate mothers will be able to regulate their rights and obligations. There will also be an opportunity to resolve disputes in judicial order. Important to consider a large number of nuances and do not use standard form agreement, because in the future, if you have to resort to it, the situation may not be resolved in favor of the biological parents.

However, if a lawyer writes whole list sanctions, which describes in detail the consequences of non-fulfillment of the contract by the surrogate mother, then the likelihood that the surrogate mother refused to give up the children will be minimized. Such a clause will not be challenged by any court.

For example, it can be described that if a surrogate mother refuses to transfer the child to biological parents after birth, then she is completely deprived of the financial reward for performing her services.

You can also add to this point that in case of refusal of their obligations, the surrogate mother will have to reimburse the amount of the fee received. It can be several times higher as compensation to biological parents. To determine the amount of compensation in the contract, it is necessary to prescribe how much married couple will spend monthly on maintaining the pregnancy, including medicines, food and medical care.

Biological parents need to understand that if a surrogate mother renounced her obligations prescribed in the contract, then the entire process of resolving the conflict should be placed in the hands of a professional lawyer and the court. Otherwise, there is a possibility that the law will be on the side of the woman who was carrying the child.

Video: Surrogacy

Surrogacy is a reproductive technology, the essence of which is the introduction of already fertilized eggs to a third party who agrees to bear and give birth to a child, concluding an agreement. According to the WHO, a surrogate mother is formally called a gestational courier. Russian legislation defines a surrogate mother as a woman carrying a fetus after the transfer of a donor embryo.

What rights does a surrogate mother have?

In Russia, surrogate motherhood is allowed and regulated at the legislative level. Being a surrogate mother is expected on a reimbursable basis.

The attitude towards surrogate motherhood in other countries is extremely ambiguous. For example, in the UK, you can only become a surrogate mother for free, while in Italy, Germany and Norway this is completely prohibited.

Surrogate motherhood is regulated in Russia by a number of laws and legislative acts, namely:

  • Federal Law "On the basics of protecting the health of citizens in the Russian Federation";
  • Family Code of the Russian Federation;
  • Federal Law "On acts of civil status";
  • Order No. 107n of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation of August 30, 2012 "On the procedure for the use of assisted reproductive technologies, contraindications and restrictions to their use."

Thus, potential parents whose germ cells are used for conception conclude commercial contract with a surrogate mother. At the same time, not every woman can be a surrogate mother, but only between the ages of 25 and 35, with at least one healthy child and no health contraindications. An important note: a surrogate mother cannot be an egg donor for future children.

The consent of the surrogate mother to the fact that the child will be recorded in the birth record book with parents - donors of germ cells is specially recorded in writing. It is important that when contesting maternity after the parents have been recorded in the birth register, these circumstances cannot be referred to. To register a child in the registry office, you need to submit a document issued by medical organization and confirming the fact of obtaining consent from the surrogate mother.

Controversial issues regarding the establishment of motherhood are considered in court. If the surrogacy contract is drawn up correctly and the woman's written consent is obtained for the procedure for registering germ cell donors by parents, then there is a very small percentage of the likelihood that the child can be returned to the surrogate mother. Nevertheless Russian legislation does not consider the child as the subject of the transaction, therefore it cannot guarantee the transfer of rights to the child to another person. Usually, the contract provides that all payments incurred by the donor parents will be compensated by the surrogate mother in case she refuses to give the child.

Deprivation of parental rights to a child is also formalized through the court in general order. Technically, a surrogate mother can be reinstated at parental rights even after some time has passed.