Surrogacy in Ukraine: Where Things Stand in 2026

Surrogacy in Ukraine remains legal on paper, but it is not a safe or stable choice for intended parents in 2026. Ukrainian law still lets married heterosexual couples, including foreigners, use gestational surrogacy. However, the full-scale war continues, the UK and US governments advise against travel, and a bill now before parliament would close surrogacy to most foreigners. This post explains the current legal position, the safety picture, what happened to babies and surrogates after the 2022 invasion, and the alternatives. For how Ukraine compares with every other country, see our guide to where surrogacy is legal.

What Ukrainian law says today

Article 123 of Ukraine's Family Code says that when an embryo created by spouses is transferred to another woman, the spouses are the child's parents. In practice this limits surrogacy to married heterosexual couples, usually with a medical reason. Compensated arrangements have been common. Same-sex couples and single people are not eligible.

Ukraine has long issued birth certificates naming the intended parents directly, without a court process, which made it popular before 2022. It never had a dedicated surrogacy statute. The rules come from the Family Code and Ministry of Health regulations on assisted reproduction, and they offer surrogates fewer protections than a full statute would. Two other points matter. First, a child born to foreign intended parents generally does not become a Ukrainian citizen, so the baby depends entirely on the parents' home country for documents. Second, your home country may not accept a Ukrainian birth certificate at face value. Many require DNA evidence or a court process, as our guide to citizenship and parentage after birth abroad explains.

The 2026 bill that would bar most foreigners

Bill No. 15507, registered in the Verkhovna Rada on 10 August 2026, would allow surrogacy only where both spouses, or one spouse in cases set by law, are Ukrainian citizens who have lived in Ukraine for at least three years. A companion bill, No. 15506, would add criminal penalties. Neither had been adopted when we checked on 5 October 2026.

According to Ukraine's national news agency, the bill would also:

• bar foreigners and stateless people unless one spouse is Ukrainian;
• require proof, before a child born through surrogacy is registered, that at least one genetic parent is a Ukrainian citizen;
• create a state register of surrogacy and reproductive-medicine contracts;
• state that surrogacy does not give a foreigner any right to stay longer in Ukraine or obtain residence; and
• give existing agreements with foreigners a nine-month window to comply.

Bills in Ukraine can change substantially before adoption, or stall entirely. Even so, anyone signing a contract now would be taking a real risk that the law changes mid-pregnancy. India, Thailand, Russia and Kazakhstan all closed to foreigners in similar ways.

Current safety and travel advice

As of 2 October 2026, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office advises against all travel to most of Ukraine, including Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa. It advises against all but essential travel to five western regions, including Lviv. The US State Department keeps Ukraine at Level 4: Do Not Travel, its highest level.

The FCDO notes that Russian missile and drone attacks happen frequently across the country, causing civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure, including power supplies. The US advisory, last updated in late August 2026 according to our checks, tells US citizens not to travel to Ukraine for any reason. For a surrogacy journey, these warnings have practical effects:

• Travel insurance is usually invalid when you travel against government advice.
• Consular help may be very limited. Getting an emergency passport or visa for a newborn can take weeks even in peacetime.
• Medical care for the surrogate and a newborn, especially in neonatal intensive care, can be disrupted by power cuts and attacks.
• Getting to and from Ukraine means overland travel, as commercial flights have been suspended since 2022.

What happened to babies and surrogates during the war

When Russia invaded in February 2022, babies born to Ukrainian surrogates for foreign parents were stranded. One Kyiv clinic moved newborns and staff into a basement shelter and reported 80 wartime births by late April 2022. Surrogates faced pressure to relocate, legal uncertainty if they fled abroad, and often went without their own safety planning.

In March 2022, CNN filmed newborns cared for by nurses in a converted basement shelter in Kyiv, waiting for foreign parents who could not safely reach them. Some parents crossed into a war zone to collect their babies; others relied on volunteers to bring infants to the border. By 28 April 2022, the same clinic said it had delivered its 80th baby since the invasion.

Peer-reviewed research has since documented the human cost:

• An anthropological study in Medical Anthropology (König, 2023) found that the war "exposed and exacerbated existing vulnerabilities" for surrogates, intended parents and children in Ukraine's cross-border surrogacy system.
• A 2022 review in the European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences (Marinelli and colleagues) noted that surrogates risked legal problems if they sought refuge and gave birth abroad, because the parentage rules that protect intended parents apply only to births in Ukraine.
• Interviews with Danish couples (Tanderup and colleagues, Reproductive BioMedicine Online, 2023) described the war and the pandemic as a form of "reproductive exile", with gestational carriers displaced as well as parents.

These accounts show the core problem with surrogacy in a conflict zone. The people with the least power, the surrogates and the newborns, carry the most risk. Any ethical programme should put the surrogate's safety, health care and freedom to leave ahead of the contract. A war makes that very hard to guarantee.

If your journey in Ukraine is already under way

If you already have embryos, a pregnancy or a newborn in Ukraine, contact your embassy or foreign ministry and an independent lawyer in both countries now. Make sure the surrogate has her own lawyer and a safety plan, ask how Bill 15507 would affect your contract, and do not travel against official advice without a clear plan.

1. Register with your government. The FCDO (UK), the US Embassy in Kyiv and other foreign ministries can advise on documents for a newborn and on current routes out.
2. Get independent legal advice. Use a Ukrainian lawyer who is not employed by your clinic, plus a lawyer at home who knows how your country recognizes parentage.
3. Ask about the surrogate's safety plan. Where will she give birth, what happens during power cuts, and who pays if she needs to move?
4. Ask about your embryos. Find out where they are stored, what backup power the facility has, and whether exporting them is possible and lawful.
5. Plan documents early. Find out what DNA testing, court orders or visas your country needs for the baby before the birth, not after.

Alternatives to surrogacy in Ukraine

For married heterosexual couples, the closest legal alternative is Georgia (the country), which also issues birth certificates naming intended parents. Couples with a larger budget, same-sex couples and single parents may look at the United States, Canada, Colombia or Mexico. Each has trade-offs in cost, eligibility and legal certainty.

• Surrogacy in Georgia: compensated, for heterosexual couples. A 2023 bill to bar foreigners was withdrawn before its third reading on 15 January 2024 and never took effect, but it could return.
• The United States: strong state laws, open to most family types, and the highest cost; uncertain since Executive Order 14418 (August 2026) if neither parent is a US citizen, because the baby's US passport may be refused.
• Canada: altruistic (expenses only), open to most family types, with long waits for a match.
• Colombia and Mexico: lower cost and wider eligibility, but with less statutory certainty.

Greece and Kazakhstan, once common alternatives for couples leaving Ukraine, have both closed to non-resident foreigners. If you are weighing two of the remaining European-adjacent options, our comparison of Georgia and Cyprus sets out the differences. Our destination comparison lets you filter by family type, budget and timeline.