Surrogate motherhood: Spanish catched in Ukraine

Abstract

Gestation by substitution is a reproductive technique not allowed in Spain. Regardless of this, there are hundreds of Spaniards who annually travel to permissive countries with the objective of fulfilling the dream of being parents. Ukraine, for more than a decade, has been a reference destination to access this technique, not only because of the affordable costs of the process, but also because of the permissible registration channel through which these children accessed the Spanish Civil Registry. The recent change of legal direction ordered by the Spanish Government has generated a significant legal conflict that has resulted in the fact that dozens of Spanish families are currently trapped in Ukraine without the legal possibility of leaving the country in the company of their children.