Why Ukraine may restrict its booming surrogacy business | Global News Podcast

Ukraine is considered a global hub for surrogate pregnancy. Four years after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, people from all over the world still pay thousands of dollars for Ukrainian women to have babies for them.

But Ukraine’s parliament is now considering a bill that would introduce stricter oversight of the surrogacy industry and effectively ban access to foreigners, who make up 95% of the intended parents.

The BBC’s global health reporter Sofia Bettiza has been speaking to surrogate mothers, and the families who hire them, about the ethical questions surrounding surrogacy, how the industry currently works, and the impact the proposed law could have.

She also tells us what happens when children born to a surrogate are left behind by their intended parents.

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00:00 Intro
01:43 Why Ukraine wants to restrict surrogacy
02:40 One surrogate mother’s story
04:20 How much do surrogates make?
07:08 Waiting for a baby in a war zone
08:15 Children left behind
10:28 What would a crackdown mean for surrogates?