Patriarch Kirill appealed to Prime Minister Mishustin with a request to support the ban on surrogacy for foreigners

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia asked Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to support a bill banning foreigners from using surrogacy in Russia.

According to him, the law will put an end to “the exploitation of the reproductive potential of Russian women by foreign states in order to reproduce their population” and will improve the demographic situation, as well as limit crimes related to child trafficking. Appeal published on the website of the Moscow Patriarchate.

According to Patriarch Kirill, foreigners use surrogacy services to “meet the demand” for children. This practice has “caused a number of deaths in newborn babies destined for foreign customers,” the letter said.

The bill prohibiting foreigners from using the services of Russian surrogate mothers was introduced to the State Duma by a group of deputies headed by Vice-Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy. The draft states that if the document is adopted and it comes into force, married citizens of Russia or a single Russian woman who, for medical reasons, cannot bear and give birth to a child, will be able to use the services of a surrogate mother.

In the event that, at the time of registration of the infant, one or both spouses who used the surrogate mother’s service ceased to be Russian citizens, they can be recorded as official parents only with the consent of the surrogate mother.

It is also proposed to legally establish the need to obtain Russian citizenship for all children born in Russia by surrogate mothers.