Surrogacy in Ukraine

We make the impossible possible

Who can do surrogacy processes in Ukraine?

In this COUNTRY the following persons can carry out surrogacy procedures:

Heterosexual, married couples, who can prove a reason that prevents them from gestation.

The medical reasons that allow access to surrogacy in Ukraine are mainly the following (they can be only one of them):

Physical problems that prevent childbearing (absence of uterus, loss of uterus, ovaries, etc.).
Repeated miscarriages.
Having made at least 4 unsuccessful embryo transfers in assisted reproduction treatments (counting the failed artificial inseminations that could have occurred).
Medical problems that put the health of the mother or the baby at risk in case of pregnancy.

If your case does not fall within any of these assumptions, please contact us, and without any commitment or cost, we will analyse your case, as this list is not exclusive, but a summary of the main and most common reasons).

Current situation in Ukraine

As you probably already know, Ukraine is currently at war with Russia. This made it temporarily difficult at first for the parents to travel to the country to donate genetic material, but it does not prevent them from starting a process in that country if they wish to do so.

Starting a surrogacy process in that country, despite the circumstances, is entirely possible.

Gestlife continues to operate in that country (we are the only agency that has not closed its doors at any time, and keeping the Clinic open at all times), attending to the needs of the surrogates, the fathers, and the children who are born each week, ensuring that they are reunited as soon as possible and safely with their parents.
Despite the current situation, life in the Ukrainian capitals of Kiev (where we carry out the process) or Lviv (from where we leave the country with the baby), are safe cities, and life goes on normally.

Sooner or later, the war will end. But schools have reopened, shops, restaurants, cafes, even the Opera! And of course our clinic has also reopened, and although unfortunately for many people there will have been a “before and after”, (many will have lost family, friends, homes, jobs, etc.) life goes on and the reconstruction of a country has begun, which follows every war.

And we are there, as we were during the civil war in Ukraine in 2014 (where the armed conflict took place in the city itself), to help as far as we can.
To this end, we have created the program “WE ARE ALL CHILDREN”, aimed at helping orphanages in Ukraine, often the forgotten ones in these terrible conflicts. Gestlife will allocate 5% of its income to help these orphanages, and through a Foundation of the group, the aid will be channelled so that it is real and effective. You will find more information on our website if you wish to collaborate with this humanitarian work.

In the meantime, regarding your possible surrogacy process, you can choose to do it in Ukraine by sending your generic material by Courier (Gestlife takes care of everything), in Georgia, Albania or Greece (these last two countries belonging to NATO), Kazakhstan, Armenia, Colombia, Mexico or USA.

Why Ukraine is still a great destination for surrogacy?

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine looked like a military operation that would last less than a month.

Russian troops arrived at the gates of Kiev, carrying out terrible massacres of civilians wherever they went. But the Ukrainian army pushed them back to their initial positions in the Donbas, in the east of the country, close to the Russian border.

This “war” is nothing new. In 2014 Russia seized Crimea, in 2013 the Maidan Revolution took place in Ukraine where the government of Viktor Fyodorovich Yanukovic, a clearly pro-Russian president, was overthrown. In 2014 Donesk and Luganks were overrun by pro-Russian soldiers, and since then, the two countries have been engaged in an unofficially declared war, but one that has claimed victims every week.

As with everything else, after a month has passed, it is no longer news, and despite the thousands of deaths between 2014 and 2022, no one has talked about it. Therefore, the war is not a new thing. It has been going on since 2014.

Parents have continued to go to pick up their children, and to start their programs.

Gestlife in Ukraine

The main inconvenience for parents who wish to have a procedure in Kiev, Ukraine, is that now they cannot fly directly to Kiev. They have to fly to Warsaw, and there take a train to Kiev. On this journey they are always accompanied by Gestlife staff, in absolute safety.

In the programmes with egg donor, in which only the commissioning father is going to donate genetic material, we have included the transfer of the sperm by a specialised courier company so that it is not necessary to travel on the first trip. Only in approximately 18 months to go and collect your baby.

There is another important development. At the beginning of the war, the supply of surrogates dropped to zero. Everything seemed to indicate that in one or two months the conflict would be over in one way or another. Who would then consider getting pregnant with an uncertain future?

But more than two years have passed since then, and the surrogate have realised that they can no longer wait, because the conflict looks set to last a long time and the biological clock is ticking, war or no war. They will not be able to get pregnant forever. In this period, several events have taken place which have meant that since July 2023 the number of pregnancies offered has increased significantly compared to the period before the war:

Most local agencies, which only offered Ukrainian have closed down.
Since very few companies now offer Ukraine, the demand for Ukrainian surrogates has fallen to only 12% of the pre-war total.
We now offer Ukrainian surrogates the possibility to spend a year abroad with their children, far away from the conflict.
Of the more than 5,000 processes a year that used to take place in Ukraine, this year there will be less than 500 between all the surviving agencies. This means that there are more surrogates available than two years ago.

This has meant that the number of Ukrainian surrogates offered increases every month, as there is hardly any demand for them in Ukraine for programs in Ukraine itself.

All this means that Ukraine remains a great destination. Never forget that we have other destinations. But Kiev is still a great destination.

The program in Ukraine allows, as we have said, in egg donor programs,to avoid the first trip. In the programs with your own eggs, you can come to our clinic, or you can donate in your home country and we can take care of your transfer, so we can also avoid (if we wish) the first trip.

Therefore, you only have to make the second trip, to pick up the baby, in approximately 18 months, accompanied throughout the journey by our staff, with absolute safety for the parents.

A wise saying goes that “every misfortune always hides an advantage”.

Surrogacy law in Ukraine

Surrogacy is absolutely legal in Ukraine, regulated by the Family Code and Order 771 of the Ministry of Health. The Family Code, in its Article 123.2, states that if an embryo conceived by a couple as a result of the application of assisted reproductive techniques is transferred into the body of another woman, the parents of the child shall be the couple. With the consent of the surrogate, the name of the parents shall be directly stated on the birth certificate.

Ukraine has one of the most comprehensive surrogacy laws in non-European countries. It allows married heterosexual couples, who have medical impediments to gestation, to have children through surrogacy, provided that one of the partners provides their own genetic material.

In whose name will the baby be registered once it is born?

After the birth, the intended parents must register the child in the Ukrainian registry office, for which a birth certificate issued by the clinic must be provided.

Since surrogacy is permitted in Ukraine, both the intended father and the intended mother appear on the birth certificate, but the surrogate mother does not appear on it. The surrogate is forbidden to claim maternity and has no rights or obligations to the child.

In order for the birth certificate to be registered in the Ukrainian civil registry, it must be accompanied by a waiver signed by the surrogate mother.

Since surrogacy is permitted in Ukraine, both the intended father and the intended mother are listed on the birth certificate, without the intended mother being listed. The surrogate is prohibited from claiming motherhood and has no rights or obligations to the child.

Special characteristics of the country

The program in Ukraine, allows, as we have said, in programs with egg donor,to avoid the first trip. In the programs with your own eggs, you can come to our clinic, or make the donation in your country of origin and we take care of your transfer, so we can also avoid (if we wish) the first trip.

Therefore, you only have to make the second trip, to pick up the baby, in approximately 18 months, accompanied throughout the journey by our staff, with absolute safety for the parents.

There is a wise saying that “every misfortune always has an advantage“.

A local support representative who speaks your language.

Our staff will assist you in our office in Kiev (Ukraine) in your language (Spanish, French, Italian, German, English, Portugal). In a process where legal issues are mixed with medical issues, it is important to speak the same language and to understand each other. With Gestlife, you will never feel like a stranger in a foreign country.

It is something that seems obvious, when with some agencies you are lucky enough to speak to an advisor in your language, but as soon as you sign the contract, the rest of the staff do not speak it, and you will have to defend yourself in English, or in another language, with translators. Make sure if you talk to other agencies that this will not happen. A year and a half (the length of a process) having to speak in other languages is very stressful.

Own office in Ukraine

Gestlife has its own office in this country. We are not intermediaries. Our staff will attend you in our office in Kiev (Ukraine), in your language. In a process in which legal matters are mixed with medical matters, it is important to speak the same language and to understand each other. With Gestlife, you will never feel like a stranger in a foreign country.

Legal assistance in Ukraine

Gestlife has lawyers in its office in Kiev, to assist you in the whole process. They are not external lawyers.

Legal assistance in your home country

Most “agencies” finish their work when they hand over the baby to you. Others help you to leave the country, but then it is up to you to register your baby in your country of origin.

At Gestlife we have a network of lawyers in all countries, to take care of the final procedure in your country of origin that will allow you to register your child without any problems.

Personal assistance during your travels

We try our best to make the surrogacy process a pleasure trip, not a nightmare. But there can always be setbacks, which can endanger the commissioning parents (illness, accident).

Gestlife takes care of managing your travel assistance insurance, to guarantee you complete assistance in the event of any incident, and we take care of managing and organising all the services related to this issue, so that you don’t have to worry about it.

Our philosophy is to take care of the parents 24 hours a day.

Cost of surrogacy process in Ukraine

A surrogacy procedure in Ukraine costs between 53,000 and 75,000 euros, depending on the chosen program and guarantees.

Which programs can I take out in Ukraine

In all our countries, you can take out the following programs:

BASIC
STANDARD
STANDARD PLUS
STANDARD PLUS PREMIUM

You can consult the services included in each program in the dossiers of each country. Ask your family advisor for them, with no obligation.

HIV, Hepatitis and sexually transmitted diseases

Gestlife is one of the few agencies that have programmes for parents who test positive for HIV, Hepatitis or sexually transmitted diseases. Nowadays, this is not an impediment to parenthood. If this is your case, consult with your family counsellor, and we will be happy to help you.

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages

In Ukraine the period has been reduced to 7 days.
The costs of the surrogates and the baby are covered by the country’s social security, so the programs are cheaper, as no additional insurance is required.
Ukrainian surrogates still want to carry out pregnancy procedures within their borders, and due to the closure of most of the local agencies at the beginning of the war, there is a surplus supply of surrogates for Ukraine, so there is no “waiting list”.

Inconveniences

The war situation can be stressful for some parents, although life in Kiev is normalised.

If this is too complicated or too stressful, you can do your process in Greece, where we have had two offices of our own since 2015, and where you get a court ruling (like in the USA).