In Kyiv, an illegal surrogacy program was exposed: the twins died

In Kyiv, law enforcement exposed an alleged scheme of illegal commercial surrogacy for foreigners. The director of a private reproductive technology medical center was notified of suspicion of recruiting a person for the purpose of exploitation by deception and by taking advantage of her vulnerable state, committed by prior conspiracy of a group of persons. On 6 August 2026 reported the Office of the Prosecutor General.

The suspect’s actions were qualified under Part 2 of Article 149 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. According to investigators, in November 2025 the director of the medical center, together with the program curator and medical staff, organized an illegal commercial surrogacy program for a foreign couple. A Ukrainian woman who did not have steady employment and was in difficult financial circumstances was recruited to participate in the program. The investigation believes the organizers took advantage of her vulnerable state and concealed part of the terms of the proposed contract.

In particular, the woman was allegedly not informed about prescribed fines of up to 30,000 US dollars, the prohibition on leaving Ukraine without the foreign couple’s permission, and other restrictions. According to law enforcement, such conditions placed the Ukrainian woman in a dependent position. Investigators also found that the foreign couple were admitted to the assisted reproductive technologies program without the mandatory medical examination. According to the investigation, the surrogate mother also did not undergo the required examination.

Moreover, the surrogacy agreement was not notarized. Despite the identified violations, the woman underwent an embryo transfer procedure, after which she became pregnant with twins. The children were born prematurely. Subsequently both infants died in the hospital.

Law enforcement believes the Ukrainian woman’s reproductive function was used for commercial purposes to obtain profit from the foreign couple. At the same time, the woman, according to the investigation, did not have full information about the program’s terms and the possible consequences of participating in it. +

+The director of the medical center was detained while he was heading to the state border of Ukraine. The prosecutor’s office message does not provide information on whether the man intended to leave the country.

At the prosecution’s request, the court imposed pretrial detention as the preventive measure for the suspect. The alternative was set as bail in the amount of almost 15 million hryvnias. The prosecutor’s office noted that the investigation continues. Law enforcement must establish the role of the program curator, medical staff and other possible participants in the scheme.

According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered innocent until their guilt is proven in accordance with the law and established by a court’s guilty verdict.