Russian lawmakers on Thursday approved a law banning foreign couples from using surrogacy, saying they wanted to “protect” children from LGBT+ families and organ trafficking.
In recent years, the Russian authorities have taken a number of measures targeting LGBT+ communities, including a ban on “propaganda” for “non-traditional” relationships.
“The law has been passed. Surrogacy is prohibited for foreigners,” said the speaker of Russia’s Lower House of Parliament (Duma), Vyacheslav Volodin.
“This will prevent trafficking of our children, protect them from situations where they end up in LGBT couples or become victims of crime, including organ trafficking,” he said.
Amendments to the Russian Family Code, approved by deputies in their third and final reading, specify that surrogacy is now only possible if one or both parents using this procedure are Russian citizens.
The text still has to be adopted by the upper house of parliament and signed by Vladimir Putin, which is normally a formality.
Until now, Russian law has not specified the nationality of parents who can use surrogates in Russia.
The decision comes less than a month after the adoption of amendments that significantly expanded the scope of a law banning LGBT+ “propaganda,” amid the Kremlin’s conservative hardening accompanying its military offensive in Ukraine.
For years, the Kremlin has presented itself as the defender of “traditional” values against a West portrayed as decadent, a policy that was reinforced by the launch of the Russian operation in Ukraine, which was denounced by Western countries.
The law banning surrogacy for foreigners was also passed, less than a week before the first trial in Moscow for alleged child trafficking in connection with surrogacy.
Four doctors and two surrogate mothers are in the dock and face up to 15 years in prison, following the death of a baby found in a Moscow apartment in 2020.
Source: TSF
