Surrogacy Lawyer in Ukraine:
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Independent Legal Support for Surrogacy Matters in Ukraine

Ukrainian law records the spouses as the parents of a child born to a surrogate mother from their embryo, and the surrogate mother cannot contest this record. Everything else in a surrogacy program, including payments, the surrogate mother's obligations, the fate of unused embryos and the liability of the clinic and the agency, depends only on the agreements the intended parents sign, and Ukrainian courts read these agreements literally.

Many intended parents expect a signed agreement to guarantee the performance of all its terms. In practice, a surrogate mother has the right to refuse any medical procedure regardless of the agreement, a refund or penalty clause applies only to the event it describes, and a judgment against a surrogate mother without income often cannot be enforced. Our research on how Ukrainian courts decide disputes between intended parents, surrogate mothers, clinics and agencies shows why the terms of these agreements have to be checked before signing rather than after a dispute arises.

Disputes Law Firm is not a surrogacy agency and represents only the legal interests of its clients. Our lawyers review agreements with the clinic, the agency and the surrogate mother, carry out legal due diligence of clinics and agencies, represent clients in Ukraine before notaries, clinics and agencies, and handle disputes that arise during a program. An example of this work is our legal due diligence of a Kyiv surrogacy clinic and its agreements for a couple from Serbia. Most of this work is done remotely and does not require the intended parents to be present in Ukraine.

Answers to the questions intended parents ask most often are collected below, grouped by service.

Services

01

Surrogacy Agreement Review
02

Legal Due Diligence of Clinics and Agencies
03

Representation in Ukraine and Notarial Procedures
04

Disputes with Clinics and Agencies

Surrogacy in Ukraine: the law, the agreements, the child's documents and disputes

The article answers the questions a foreign couple asks before starting a program: who may use surrogacy in Ukraine and on what medical grounds, whom the civil registry office records as the child's parents and on the basis of which documents, and what the agreements with the clinic, the agency and the surrogate mother provide and where they leave the parents exposed. It also explains how Ukrainian courts decide disputes over refunds, a surrogate mother's refusal to consent to the spouses being recorded as parents, the fate of embryos, and the establishment of a family relationship that some states require because they do not recognise a Ukrainian birth certificate. Finally, it sets out what bills No. 15507 and No. 15506 would change for foreigners if the Verkhovna Rada adopts them.

This article is for those who want to understand the rules on their own before starting a program. If you need your agreements reviewed before signing, the child's birth registered or your money recovered, contact the attorney: we will review your documents and propose a course of action.

In brief. Surrogacy in Ukraine is available to foreigners on the same terms as to Ukrainian citizens: to a married man and woman with a medical indication for it, provided that at least one of the spouses is genetically related to the child (Article 123(2) of the Family Code of Ukraine; paragraphs 6.1 and 6.2 of the Procedure for the Use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies, approved by Order of the Ministry of Health No. 787). The civil registry office records the spouses as the child's parents on the basis of the surrogate mother's consent, with her signature certified by a notary, and the clinic's certificate of genetic relationship (paragraph 11 of chapter 1 of section III of the Rules of State Registration of Civil Status Acts). After that, the woman who gave birth cannot contest the wife's maternity (Article 139(2) of the Family Code of Ukraine). Payments, the obligations of the clinic and the agency, and the surrogate mother's liability are governed only by the agreements. Courts apply the sanctions in these agreements only to the circumstances the agreement expressly names. If the spouses have not decided in a written statement what happens to their embryos on death or divorce, a court decides. The child of a foreign couple does not acquire Ukrainian citizenship and leaves Ukraine on a passport or travel document issued by the consulate of the parents' state. German authorities do not treat a Ukrainian birth certificate as a decision that can be recognised in Germany, so German spouses apply to a Ukrainian court to establish their family relationship with the child. As of November 2026, bill No. 15507, which proposes to ban surrogacy for foreigners, is under review by a committee of the Verkhovna Rada and is not law. The attorney handles these matters remotely under an agreement on professional legal assistance and a warrant, and takes part in court hearings by video link (Article 212 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine).

How a surrogacy program works in Ukraine

A surrogacy program has a medical part, which the clinic carries out under Procedure No. 787, and a legal part: the agreements between the spouses, the clinic, the agency and the surrogate mother, the registration of the child's birth and the child's documents. The Family Code of Ukraine, Procedure No. 787 and Rules No. 52/5 determine who may be the child's parents and how the civil registry office registers the birth. The civil registry office records the spouses as parents without a court application if they have obtained from the clinic and the notary the documents required by Rules No. 52/5. If the program fails, the spouses can recover their money only on the grounds set out in the agreements.

Surrogacy is governed by the Family and Civil Codes of Ukraine and by orders of the Ministries of Health and Justice, which do not restrict the intended parents' citizenship

The Verkhovna Rada has not adopted a separate surrogacy law, so programs are governed by the Family and Civil Codes of Ukraine and by orders of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Justice. Spouses whose embryo is transferred to another woman are the child's parents (Article 123(2) of the Family Code of Ukraine). An adult woman or man has the right to treatment programs using assisted reproductive technologies (ART) on medical grounds (Article 281(7) of the Civil Code of Ukraine). The Ministry of Health sets the conditions and procedure for using these technologies (Article 48 of the Fundamentals of the Legislation of Ukraine on Health Care). The Ministry of Health approved the Procedure for the Use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies in Ukraine, section VI of which deals with surrogacy (Order No. 787 of 9 September 2013). The Ministry of Justice set the procedure for registering the birth of a child born to a surrogate mother (paragraph 11 of chapter 1 of section III of the Rules of State Registration of Civil Status Acts in Ukraine, approved by Order No. 52/5 of 18 October 2000). None of these rules restricts the intended parents' citizenship.

No legal act governs the content of the agreement with the surrogate mother, the amount of her compensation, the parties' liability or the fate of the embryos. The spouses and the surrogate mother set these terms themselves, because parties are free to enter into a contract, choose their counterparty and determine its terms (Article 627(1) of the Civil Code of Ukraine). The Supreme Court applied the Civil Code provisions on service contracts to an agreement under which a surrogate mother carries a pregnancy (Supreme Court ruling of 23 October 2019 in case No. 150/628/16-ц).

Surrogacy is available to a married man and woman with medical indications

The parents of a child born after an embryo transfer to another woman are the spouses, that is, a man and a woman who are married to each other (Article 123(2) of the Family Code of Ukraine). The civil registry office therefore cannot record an unmarried couple, a single man or a same-sex couple as the parents of such a child (paragraph 11 of chapter 1 of section III of Rules No. 52/5). The clinic requires the spouses to submit an application for ART, copies of their passports and a copy of their marriage certificate (paragraph 6.11 of Procedure No. 787). An unmarried woman whose egg was used to create the embryo applied to court to establish that the child had been born to a surrogate mother, after the civil registry office refused to register the birth. The Khortytskyi District Court of Zaporizhzhia granted the application and found the applicant to be the child's mother (judgment of 16 August 2022 in case No. 337/2288/22).

Medical indications for surrogacy are the absence of the uterus, a deformity of the uterine cavity or cervix that makes carrying a pregnancy impossible, irreversible changes in the endometrium, serious somatic diseases in which pregnancy threatens the woman's health or life, and four or more failed ART attempts with transfer of high-quality embryos (paragraph 6.2 of Procedure No. 787). Since 2024, clinics have carried out ART treatment programs on the conclusion of a multidisciplinary medical panel made up of the medical director, the attending physician, a general practitioner and an obstetrician-gynaecologist (paragraph 1.10 of Procedure No. 787). Courts that convicted program organisers of human trafficking found in their judgments that the organisers performed embryo transfers without medical indications and for couples who did not meet the requirements of Procedure No. 787 (see the section “Problems intended parents face” below).

At least one of the spouses must be genetically related to the child

The spouses, or one of the intended parents, must have a genetic link with the child (paragraph 6.1 of Procedure No. 787). The surrogate mother may not have a direct genetic link with the child (ibid.). The clinic may therefore use a donor egg or donor sperm in a program, but not both donor gametes at once. The clinic confirms the genetic relationship with a certificate in the form of Annex 18 to Procedure No. 787, which the spouses submit to the civil registry office together with their application to register the birth (paragraph 6.9 of Procedure No. 787). If the child is genetically related only to the father, the civil registry office records both spouses as parents. The Lviv District Administrative Court declared unlawful the failure of a civil registry office to register the birth of such a child; the office had taken the view that the birth should be registered in the parents' state of citizenship. The court ordered the civil registry office to register the birth (judgment of 14 April 2025 in case No. 380/23763/24).

A surrogate mother must be an adult woman with full legal capacity who has a healthy child of her own

The surrogate mother submits her own written application in the form of Annex 17 to Procedure No. 787 and must have no medical contraindications (paragraph 6.4 of Procedure No. 787). She undergoes the standard examination for ART treatment and, since 2024, an examination by a psychiatrist as well (paragraph 6.3 of Procedure No. 787). If the surrogate mother is married, the clinic requires her husband's consent in the form of Annex 19 (paragraph 6.10 of Procedure No. 787). Close relatives of the intended parents, including the mother, sister or cousin, may also carry the pregnancy (paragraph 6.1 of Procedure No. 787).

The program runs from signing the agreements with the clinic to registering the birth and the child's departure from Ukraine

Before treatment begins, the spouses sign agreements with the clinic and, if one is involved, with the agency, and before the embryo transfer they sign a joint agreement with the surrogate mother. After the birth, the surrogate mother signs a statement consenting to the spouses being recorded as parents, and a notary certifies her signature. The clinic issues the spouses a certificate of genetic relationship, and the spouses take these documents to the civil registry office. Once the birth is registered, the spouses or the attorney submit the birth certificate for an apostille. The consulate of the parents' state issues the child a passport or travel document, and the child leaves Ukraine with the parents.

In parallel, the clinic carries out the medical part of the program, which under Procedure No. 787 consists of the following stages: selecting the surrogate mother, synchronising cycles, preparing embryos, transferring the embryo, cryopreserving unused embryos, diagnosing the pregnancy, monitoring it, choosing the method and place of delivery, and keeping the child and the surrogate mother apart after the birth (paragraph 6.6 of Procedure No. 787). Parents who are genetically related to the child may be present at the birth (partner birth) (ibid.). Foreign parents give their temporary address in Ukraine so that a paediatrician can visit the child until the documents are issued and the child leaves (paragraph 6.8 of Procedure No. 787).

Program agreements: what intended parents sign

In a surrogacy program the spouses usually sign three or four agreements: with the clinic for medical services, with the agency for organising the program, a joint agreement with the surrogate mother, and sometimes a separate agreement on cryopreservation and storage of embryos. The terms described in this section come from agreements that clients gave the firm for review in 2022–2026. The firm does not name the clinics or agencies and does not disclose the parties' details.

The obligations of the spouses, the clinic, the agency and the surrogate mother are set only by the agreements they sign

As to the content of the agreements, Procedure No. 787 requires only that the spouses and the surrogate mother conclude a written joint agreement and give the clinic a notarised copy of it (paragraph 6.11 of Procedure No. 787). The participants set all other terms themselves. The agency or the clinic offers the spouses the agreements with the clinic, the agency and the surrogate mother as one package, yet none of these agreements refers to the others. Agency agreements do not state the purpose of the program, which is the birth of a live child genetically related to the spouses and the spouses being recorded as the child's parents. The spouses therefore cannot bring a claim against the agency for a breach committed by the clinic. The agency considers its obligations performed whether or not a child is born. When reviewing the agreements, the attorney proposes stating in each of them that the package is aimed at the birth of a child genetically related to the spouses and at recording the spouses as the child's parents, and making the agency liable if, through its own fault, it has not secured this result. The firm explains why an agreement does not fully protect any participant in the program in its article on surrogacy in Ukraine and the illusion of legal protection.

All the agreements reviewed, including that of an agency registered in the USA, subject the parties' relationship to Ukrainian law and refer disputes to Ukrainian courts. Clinic and agency agreements require the spouses, before going to court, to go through a pre-trial review by a commission made up of the clinic's or agency's own staff. The spouses file claims under these agreements with the court at the clinic's or agency's location. Bilingual agreements do not say which language version prevails if the versions differ. Two agencies drew up their agreements in English only. Before signing, the spouses therefore need to compare the language versions and state in the agreement which one prevails.

The clinic does not guarantee pregnancy, and some agreements leave pregnancy care to the antenatal clinic

None of the clinics reviewed guarantees pregnancy or the birth of a child. Patients cannot claim compensation for an unsuccessful attempt if the clinic followed professional standards. The agreements treat entries in the outpatient record, which the clinic itself keeps, as proof that the clinic has performed its obligations. The agreements do not give the spouses the right to see the record or obtain copies of it. Some agreements cover only the thawing and transfer of one embryo. Under such agreements, the antenatal clinic manages the surrogate mother's pregnancy, and she registers there no later than the 12th week. If the agreement names the clinic only as the place of fertilisation, a court will not award damages against it for complications of the pregnancy. A surrogate mother who lost a twin pregnancy sued the clinic for UAH 700,000 in non-pecuniary damages, and the Sviatoshynskyi District Court of Kyiv granted the claim. The Kyiv Court of Appeal set that judgment aside and dismissed the claim, because the agreement only named the clinic as the place of fertilisation and did not oblige it to monitor the pregnancy. The appeal court also noted that the claimant had not proved that the clinic's staff acted unlawfully (ruling of 22 May 2024 in case No. 759/15994/17). The agreement must therefore list the medical services the clinic provides to the surrogate mother from the embryo transfer until the child is discharged, and give the spouses the right to copies of the medical records.

None of the agreements reviewed sets a procedure for identifying biological material, that is, for labelling, cross-checking and handing over samples. Clinics provide for a mandatory DNA test after the birth only in package programs, and the clinic itself chooses the laboratory. The spouses pay separately for a test at an independent laboratory. If the spouses brought embryos or sperm to the clinic from another clinic, one agreement makes the spouses responsible for the material being theirs and requires them to pay for the program in full if the absence of a genetic link is the spouses' own fault. The agreement must include a clause providing for a DNA test at an independent laboratory before the surrogate mother signs her consent to the spouses being recorded as parents, and the clinic's liability for a mix-up of biological material.

Clinic agreements give the parties unequal grounds for termination. A clinic that terminates the agreement after numerous failed attempts refunds 100% or 50% of the money paid to it, excluding additional services, depending on the package. In single-attempt packages the agreements provide for no refund. If the spouses initiate termination after failed attempts, the clinic sets the refund “individually”. While the surrogate mother is pregnant, the spouses may not withdraw from the agreement unilaterally. If the spouses fail to arrive for fertilisation, one agreement sets a penalty equivalent to EUR 3,000 where there is a valid reason and EUR 6,000 where there is none. The same agreement allows the clinic to terminate without a refund if the spouses' marital status changes. If the spouses divorce before the child is born, the clinic may end the program without a refund. After a divorce, the civil registry office will not be able to register the birth on the spouses' application under paragraph 11 of chapter 1 of section III of Rules No. 52/5.

The agency agreement limits the agency's liability and does not define when its services count as delivered

Under the agreement, the agency organises and coordinates the program, does not provide medical services and is not liable for the acts of the clinic or the surrogate mother. One agreement caps the agency's liability at the amount it received from the spouses. The same agreement allows the agency, at its own discretion, to change the clinic and move the cryopreserved embryos there. No agency agreement provides for a certificate of acceptance of services. Under one agreement, the services are deemed accepted if the spouses do not object within five days after the agency notifies them by email that the services have been provided. Another agreement allows the spouses to communicate with the surrogate mother only through the agency's manager. The spouses therefore receive information about the program from the agency and can check it only against the clinic's medical records. The spouses' right to copies of these records must be written into the agreement.

Under the agreements, the spouses pay several recipients: the clinic, the agency (in some cases a foreign company) and the surrogate mother, into her personal account or, under some agreements, in cash. The agency agreement and the clinic or surrogate mother agreement may provide for the same payment, so the payment schedule must be set out in one agreement, which states that the spouses make no other payments. If the agency ceases operations, the spouses continue the program under the agreements with the clinic and the surrogate mother concluded through the agency, and pay for the embryo storage themselves, which the agency used to pay for. In one of the firm's cases, the agency stopped paying for storage of a client's embryo, leaving the client in debt to the clinic and at risk of losing the embryo. In another case, an agency registered in the USA informed its clients that it had filed for bankruptcy while their embryos were in storage in Kyiv.

The agreement secures the surrogate mother's obligations only with financial penalties

The agreements secure the surrogate mother's obligations with penalties. For each breach of the rules of conduct set by the agreement, the agreements set a penalty of up to EUR 200 or USD 500–1,000. For failing to appear for the embryo transfer, a repeated breach or a breach that caused a miscarriage, the agreements set a penalty of 50–60% of the final compensation. The agreements require the surrogate mother to abstain from alcohol and smoking, take tests for harmful substances, move to a designated city no later than the 32nd week of pregnancy (or to a safe region if fighting escalates) and give advance notice before leaving her place of residence. A woman has the right to terminate a pregnancy at her own request up to 12 weeks (Article 281(6) of the Civil Code of Ukraine). A clause in which the surrogate mother promises not to terminate the pregnancy can therefore be secured only by a financial penalty, and no one can compel her to comply with it.

The surrogate mother's compensation, from which the agreements calculate the largest penalties, consists of payments for each embryo transfer, monthly payments from confirmation of pregnancy, and a final compensation after the birth, which increases if twins are born. The agreements also provide separate compensation for a caesarean section, removal of the uterus or ovaries, pregnancy loss at different stages and stillbirth, as well as a payment to her heirs if the surrogate mother dies. One agreement ties the payment after the birth to the surrogate mother submitting a notarised statement consenting to the spouses being recorded as parents. Under another agreement, the spouses withhold 25% of the final compensation until their parenthood is confirmed in their state of citizenship.

The consent terms determine whether the spouses can register the child's birth without going to court. One of the agreements reviewed requires the surrogate mother to sign the consent statement before the birth or no later than three days after it. The other agreements set no deadline. Two of them impose no liability on the surrogate mother if she refuses to sign. The agreement must therefore set a deadline for signing the statement, the surrogate mother's obligation to appear before the notary and at the consulate, and reimbursement of the spouses' costs if she does not. The attorney reviews the agreement before signing as part of the firm's contract drafting and review service.

If the spouses have not decided the fate of their embryos on death or divorce in a written statement, a court decides

Neither Procedure No. 787 nor any of the agreements reviewed sets out what happens to embryos if one of the spouses dies or the spouses divorce, so a court decides such disputes. The parents of a deceased man sued the clinics and his widow to have the cryopreserved embryos created by their son and his wife handed over to them. The Tsentralnyi District Court of Dnipro applied the rules on property to the embryos by analogy and, taking into account the widow's rights as co-owner, ordered the clinic to hand three of them over to the parents. The Dnipro Court of Appeal accepted the claimants' withdrawal of the claim, declared that judgment void and closed the proceedings (order of 24 April 2026 in case No. 203/4924/23). The first-instance judgment in this case therefore has no effect. The Lychakivskyi District Court of Lviv granted a woman who had lived as a family with a fallen serviceman without being married to him the right to dispose of and use their joint cryopreserved embryos (judgment of 13 February 2026 in case No. 463/12547/25). The clinic admitted the claim, because it considered that without the deceased man's written consent such a right could only be granted by a court. The court found that during his lifetime the man had wanted the woman to use the embryos to have their child. The spouses must therefore set out in a joint written statement, before cryopreservation, what happens to the embryos on death, divorce or termination of the program.

Patients' embryos, gametes and tissue are their biological material, and the clinic stores them. At the patients' request, the clinic transports them to another clinic in Ukraine or abroad with a transfer certificate (paragraphs 11.1 and 11.3 of Procedure No. 787). One clinic's agreement provides for free storage of embryos until the child is born and for one year afterwards, and for paid storage after that, at a price the clinic may change unilaterally. One agency agreement provides that after a year of storage the agency destroys the embryos if the spouses have not answered its request within ten working days. The agreement must therefore provide that neither the clinic nor the agency destroys embryos without the written consent of both spouses.

Birth registration and the child's documents

Unlike the other stages of the program, the registration of the birth of a child born to a surrogate mother is expressly governed by the Family Code of Ukraine and by the rules of civil status registration approved by the Ministry of Justice. If the spouses submit a complete set of documents to the civil registry office, they receive a birth certificate without going to court. The parents' state of citizenship decides under its own law whether this certificate is enough to record the spouses as the child's parents.

The civil registry office records the spouses as parents on the basis of the surrogate mother's notarised consent

The civil registry office registers the birth on the application of the spouses who consented to the embryo transfer. Together with the document confirming the birth, the spouses submit the surrogate mother's statement consenting to the spouses being recorded as the child's parents and the clinic's certificate of genetic relationship (paragraph 11 of chapter 1 of section III of Rules No. 52/5). A notary certifies the surrogate mother's signature on the statement. The civil registry office enters the spouses as the parents in the birth certificate. The civil registry office enters the details of the woman who gave birth, the number of the clinic's certificate and the details of the notarial certification in the “Notes” column of the birth record (ibid.). The spouses must register the birth no later than one month from the date of birth (Article 13(3) of the Law of Ukraine “On State Registration of Civil Status Acts”).

Once the spouses have been recorded as parents, the woman who gave birth cannot contest the wife's maternity (Article 139(2) of the Family Code of Ukraine). The spouses therefore run the risk of not being recorded as parents only until the birth is registered. If the surrogate mother refuses to sign the consent statement, the civil registry office has no grounds to record the spouses as parents, and the spouses apply to court (see the section “Problems intended parents face” below).

The spouses challenge a refusal by the civil registry office in an administrative court

The civil registry office may refuse registration on only three grounds: the registration contradicts the law, it must be carried out by another office, or the application was filed by a person lacking legal capacity or the necessary authority (Article 21(1) of the Law of Ukraine “On State Registration of Civil Status Acts”). The civil registry office must give the refusal in writing, stating the reasons and how to appeal (Article 21(2) of the same Law). The spouses challenge a refusal or inaction of the civil registry office in a district administrative court, and the court may order the civil registry office to register the birth.

District administrative courts have ordered civil registry offices to register births where the offices refused or delayed for reasons outside this list. The Kyiv District Administrative Court found unlawful a refusal that the civil registry office based on the wife's lack of medical indications for surrogacy. The court held that checking whether ART was used lawfully is not within the powers of the civil registry office (judgment of 26 June 2020 in case No. 640/4040/20). The Kharkiv District Administrative Court ordered the registration of the birth of a child whose embryo the clinic had transferred to the surrogate mother before the spouses registered their marriage, because the registration rules do not make registration depend on when the transfer took place (judgment of 21 July 2020 in case No. 520/7324/2020). The Dnipropetrovsk District Administrative Court set aside a refusal that the civil registry office based on the fact that the application had been filed by the child's grandmother under the spouses' power of attorney. The court held that the law does not prohibit the spouses' representative from filing such an application on their behalf (judgment of 15 November 2021 in case No. 160/14508/21).

Any civil registry office issues a duplicate birth certificate to the parents or the attorney

If a birth certificate has been stolen, lost, damaged or destroyed, any civil registry office, regardless of where the birth was registered, issues a duplicate certificate marked “Duplicate” (paragraphs 2 and 5 of section IV of Rules No. 52/5). The parents obtain a duplicate birth certificate for their child regardless of the child's age. The attorney obtains it on the basis of a warrant and a certified copy of the legal assistance agreement, so the spouses do not need to travel to Ukraine for this (paragraph 4 of section IV of Rules No. 52/5). For the authorities of the parents' state, the spouses or the attorney submit the birth certificate for an apostille.

The child of a foreign couple does not acquire Ukrainian citizenship, and the consulate of the parents' state issues the child's passport

The child of a foreign couple who do not permanently reside in Ukraine does not acquire Ukrainian citizenship. Ukrainian citizens by birth are children whose parents, or one of whose parents, were Ukrainian citizens at the time of birth, and children of foreigners permanently residing in Ukraine if the child has not acquired the citizenship of another state (Article 7 of the Law of Ukraine “On Citizenship of Ukraine”). The embassy or consulate of the parents' state issues the child a passport or temporary travel document under that state's rules. These rules determine which documents the spouses submit to the consulate. The child leaves Ukraine on a passport of the parents' state under the general rules for foreigners (Article 15(1) of the Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons”).

If the parents' state does not recognise the certificate, the spouses apply to a Ukrainian court to establish their family relationship with the child

German citizens apply to Ukrainian courts to establish that they are the parents of a child born to a surrogate mother. The applicants base their application on the decision of the Federal Court of Justice of Germany of 20 March 2019 in case XII ZB 320/17, under which an entry in the Ukrainian register and the certificate issued on its basis are not a decision that can be recognised in Germany (judgment of the Irpin City Court of Kyiv Region of 30 October 2025 in case No. 367/10612/25). A Ukrainian court hears such an application in non-contentious (separate) proceedings as a case on establishing a family relationship between individuals (Article 315(1)(1) of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine).

Court practice in this category is not uniform. The Makarivskyi District Court of Kyiv Region, the Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv and the Irpin City Court of Kyiv Region established this fact with reference to the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in Mennesson v. France and Labassée v. France (judgments of 14 June 2023 in case No. 370/1224/23, of 30 April 2024 in case No. 760/7302/24 and of 30 October 2025 in case No. 367/10612/25). The Podilskyi District Court of Kyiv granted such an application, noting that under German law the applicants need a Ukrainian court decision to formalise their parental rights (judgment of 26 August 2026 in case No. 758/4156/26).

The Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv dismissed such an application, because the birth certificate already confirms the family relationship. The court also noted that the applicants had not involved the German authorities in the case and had not produced their refusal to recognise the certificate (judgment of 23 April 2024 in case No. 761/3574/24). In another case, the Kyiv Court of Appeal upheld a dismissal, agreeing that the birth certificate already confirms the applicants' parenthood (ruling of 16 October 2024 in case No. 761/584/24). In yet another case, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv, on the wife's application, established that she and her husband are the child's parents. The husband appealed, stating that he had not been notified of the proceedings. The Kyiv Court of Appeal set the judgment aside and dismissed the application, because Ukraine had already recognised both spouses as the child's parents (ruling of 17 January 2024 in case No. 761/21494/22).

The Darnytskyi District Court of Kyiv refused to open proceedings on an application by German spouses, considering that the application revealed a dispute over a right. The Kyiv Court of Appeal set that order aside, because the registration of a child's birth does not in itself indicate a dispute over a right (ruling of 12 September 2024 in case No. 753/11852/24). The spouses should therefore attach to the application a document confirming that their state of citizenship requires a court decision, such as a letter from its authority or an opinion of a lawyer of that state, and file the application on behalf of both spouses.

The authorities of the parents' state of citizenship decide under its law whether to recognise the Ukrainian court decision and whether to record the spouses as parents. The firm represents clients before Ukrainian courts and authorities, so the spouses need to find out the foreign authority's requirements from a lawyer of the relevant state before the program begins.

Problems intended parents face

Disputes in surrogacy programs arise between all the participants: the spouses, the clinic, the agency and the surrogate mother. Courts decide money disputes under the terms of the agreements and the Civil Code rules on service contracts. Courts decide disputes about the child under the Family Code rules on parentage and establish the child's parentage on the basis of a genetic expert opinion and the documents confirming the birth.

If the program fails, a court orders a refund only on the grounds expressly named in the agreement

Courts apply a refund and penalty clause only to the circumstances it expressly names. A commissioning couple sued a surrogate mother for their program costs and a penalty. They claimed that the surrogate mother had not completed the prescribed treatment and had left Kyiv, so the embryo transfer never took place. The agreement required the surrogate mother to repay the money and program costs only in cases related to a pregnancy that had already begun: miscarriage, abortion or termination of pregnancy. The Chernivetskyi District Court of Vinnytsia Region dismissed the claim. The Court of Appeal of Vinnytsia Region set that judgment aside and ordered the surrogate mother to pay UAH 21,835.66 in program costs. The Supreme Court set aside the appeal judgment and upheld the dismissal, because no pregnancy had occurred (ruling of 23 October 2019 in case No. 150/628/16-ц).

Spouses who bought a package with a “guarantee” of a child's birth or with repeat attempts are not entitled to a full refund either. In another case, a commissioning couple signed a mandate agreement with the agency's authorised representative, which provided for a repeat program if the child was lost. After the pregnancy was lost in the 21st week, they sued the representative for EUR 29,000 in damages. The Bohunskyi District Court of Zhytomyr dismissed the claim on three grounds: the couple had not proved that the representative had withdrawn from the agreement; the agreement had not been terminated; and neither the law nor the agreement provided for a refund of all sums paid (judgment of 3 February 2023 in case No. 295/8309/21). The court also found that the pregnancy ended in a spontaneous miscarriage through no fault of the surrogate mother. The couple themselves had breached the agreement by contacting the surrogate mother directly and demanding that she terminate the pregnancy in the 21st week.

The spouses must pay for the program even when they try to withdraw from the agreement after the clinic has done its part. A clinic and a sole proprietor sued a couple for the third instalment under a package with a “guarantee”. The couple refused to pay, citing among other things the lack of confirmation of the pregnancy and their own withdrawal from the agreement, although the child had been born and the wife had taken the child home. The Leninskyi District Court of Kharkiv ordered the couple to pay the third instalment, because the purpose of the agreement, the birth of a child, excluded unilateral withdrawal from it. The Kharkiv Court of Appeal varied that judgment and reduced the amount by UAH 300,000, which the wife had already paid against the invoice for the third instalment (ruling of 26 March 2024 in case No. 642/3316/23). The grounds for a refund and its amount, if no pregnancy occurs, or in case of miscarriage, stillbirth or withdrawal by any party, must therefore be set out in the agreement before the first payment.

If an agency has deceived its clients, a court declares the agreement invalid and awards damages against the agency and its officers

An unmarried German couple sued a surrogacy medical information centre, its director and its coordinator to have their agreement on ART services declared invalid and to recover damages. The Sviatoshynskyi District Court of Kyiv declared the agreement invalid as concluded under the influence of deception. The court found that the centre had not informed the claimants of the requirements of Procedure No. 787, had not executed an agreement with the surrogate mother, had replaced the agreed candidate ten minutes before the meeting and had not explained what happened to three embryos that were supposed to be cryopreserved. The court ordered the centre, its director and its coordinator, jointly and severally, to pay each claimant pecuniary damages and non-pecuniary damages of EUR 5,500 and EUR 4,500 respectively. Separately, the court ordered the director and the coordinator to return the money they had received from the claimants as unjustly obtained (default judgment of 24 July 2023 in case No. 759/24311/21). The firm has described the course of a pre-trial dispute with an agency in its article on a pre-trial dispute with a surrogacy agency after negotiations failed.

A service provider is liable for the actions that the agreement defines as its obligations. A client sued a sole proprietor who, under an agreement on information services, selected candidate surrogate mothers, and demanded a refund because she had received information about only one candidate instead of three. The Leninskyi District Court of Kharkiv dismissed the claim, because the agreement treated the signing of an agreement between the client and a surrogate mother as full performance of the obligations (judgment of 18 April 2019 in case No. 642/2368/17).

If the surrogate mother refuses consent or records herself and her husband as parents, a court establishes the child's parentage

If the surrogate mother refuses to consent to the spouses being recorded as parents and hides the child, and the maternity hospital does not issue the medical documents, the spouses apply to court to establish the fact of the child's birth. If there is no medical document confirming the birth, the civil registry office registers the birth on the basis of a court decision establishing that fact (Article 13(4) of the Law of Ukraine “On State Registration of Civil Status Acts”). A German couple applied to the Balakliia District Court of Kharkiv Region to establish the fact of the child's birth, because the surrogate mother had refused consent and was hiding the child, the hospital had refused to release the medical records, and the civil registry office had refused registration. A forensic expert, in a molecular genetic opinion, confirmed the spouses' parenthood and excluded the surrogate mother's maternity. The court established that the child had been born to the surrogate mother as a result of ART (judgment of 19 October 2021 in case No. 610/3131/21).

Later, this surrogate mother took the child abroad on a forged birth certificate. The Leninskyi District Court of Kharkiv convicted her of aiding the forgery of the certificate, use of a forged document and illegally moving a person across the state border, and released her from serving the sentence on probation. The Kharkiv Court of Appeal set aside the first-instance judgment as to the sentence and sentenced her to two years' imprisonment. The Supreme Court upheld the appeal court's judgment (ruling of 12 November 2025 in case No. 642/3201/23).

If the surrogate mother has already recorded herself and her husband as the child's parents, the genetic father proves his paternity in court. The genetic mother may sue the woman recorded as the mother to have her own maternity recognised within one year of the day she learned or could have learned that she is the child's mother (Article 139(2) and (3) of the Family Code of Ukraine). In one case, a surrogate mother gave birth to twins genetically related to the intended father and recorded herself and her husband as the children's parents. In separate proceedings, the father proved his paternity of the surviving son (judgment of the Uman City and District Court of Cherkasy Region of 12 June 2015 in case No. 705/5327/14-ц). As to the twin who died a few hours after birth, the father sued the surrogate mother to amend the birth record. The Uman City and District Court of Cherkasy Region ordered the civil registry office to record the claimant as that child's father. The Court of Appeal of Cherkasy Region and the Supreme Court upheld that judgment (Supreme Court ruling of 22 May 2019 in case No. 705/6741/16-ц). The firm has described the court procedure on its page on establishing and contesting paternity and maternity.

A court awards the surrogate mother only those payments that the agreement ties to circumstances that have actually occurred

The surrogate mother is entitled to the payments the agreement provides for, in the circumstances to which the agreement ties them. The agreement tied the monthly compensation and the miscarriage payment to the onset of pregnancy, and defined the onset of pregnancy by a test at a specific clinic. The surrogate mother sued the commissioning couple for these payments, claiming that she had become pregnant and miscarried at home. The Desnianskyi District Court of Kyiv dismissed the claim, because the clinic had not established a pregnancy, and the Kyiv Court of Appeal agreed (ruling of 15 September 2021 in case No. 754/15834/19). If the surrogate mother demands extra money as a condition for signing her consent to the spouses being recorded as parents, the spouses establish the fact of the child's birth in court without that consent, as the German couple did in case No. 610/3131/21 described above.

If a clinic used donor material without the patients' consent, a court awards non-pecuniary and pecuniary damages against it

A clinic uses donor gametes or embryos only on a separate application by the patients in the form of Annex 16 to Procedure No. 787 (paragraph 5.24 of Procedure No. 787). The clinic has the same obligation in surrogacy programs. The case in which the courts awarded damages for breach of this obligation concerns an IVF program in which the patient herself gave birth.

A patient gave birth after IVF at a reproductive centre. She later learned that the child had no genetic link with either her or her former husband, and sued the centre for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages. The Ivano-Frankivsk City Court dismissed the claim. The Ivano-Frankivsk Court of Appeal set that judgment aside and ordered the centre to pay UAH 800,000 in non-pecuniary damages and UAH 56,400 in pecuniary damages.

The Supreme Court agreed that the centre's staff had used donor material without the spouses' consent and had changed the treatment method on their own initiative, and upheld that part of the appeal ruling. The Supreme Court remitted the claim for compensation of the money spent on the child's maintenance to the court of appeal for a new hearing (ruling of 5 August 2026 in case No. 344/4082/23). After the new hearing, the Ivano-Frankivsk Court of Appeal ordered the centre to pay a further UAH 1,728,000. As of November 2026, that ruling can still be appealed in cassation.

After a child was born, a laboratory found that the child was not genetically related to the commissioning father. The clinic considered that the surrogate mother had breached the agreement and sued her for damages and harm to its business reputation. The Korosten City and District Court of Zhytomyr Region granted the claim. The Zhytomyr Court of Appeal set that judgment aside and dismissed the clinic's claim, because the clinic had proved neither damage nor a causal link (ruling of 7 July 2021 in case No. 279/5244/20). The spouses learn that there is no genetic link with the child from a DNA test, so the test must be done before the surrogate mother signs her consent to the spouses being recorded as parents.

Obligations towards a child with developmental disorders rest on those the civil registry office recorded as the child's parents, even if they refused to take the child from the maternity hospital

Parents' rights and obligations are based on the child's parentage as certified by the civil registry office (Article 121 of the Family Code of Ukraine). If the civil registry office has recorded the surrogate mother and her husband as the child's parents, the obligations towards the child therefore rest on them, regardless of the surrogacy agreement and the DNA test results. A surrogate mother gave birth to a child under an agreement with a Chinese couple, but the civil registry office recorded the surrogate mother and her husband as the child's parents. They refused to take the child from the maternity hospital, citing the child's congenital health conditions and their lack of money. The guardianship authority sued them to deprive them of parental rights and to recover child maintenance. The Novoukrainka District Court of Kirovohrad Region deprived them of parental rights and ordered each of them to pay maintenance. The Kropyvnytskyi Court of Appeal upheld the judgment as to maintenance and noted that the agreement and the DNA test were irrelevant to the subject of the dispute (ruling of 18 April 2022 in case No. 396/741/21).

If the woman who gave birth has left the child at the maternity hospital, and neither the clinic nor the Ministry of Health has given the guardianship authority information about the biological parents, a local general court hears the dispute over registering the birth in civil proceedings. The Chernivtsi District Administrative Court therefore refused to open proceedings on the guardianship authority's claim against the civil registry office to register the birth of such a child (order of 20 May 2026 in case No. 600/2391/26-а). The agreements reviewed require the spouses to accept the child regardless of the child's health. None of them sets any sanction for refusing to take the child. The spouses' obligations towards a child with developmental disorders and the allocation of treatment costs must be expressly set out in the agreement.

Courts convict organisers of programs run in breach of Procedure No. 787 of human trafficking, and the police may remove a child until parentage is established in court

Where program organisers recruit women in financial hardship, conceal the program terms from them and threaten them with penalties, courts convict them of human trafficking (Article 149 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). In 2024, courts in Kyiv convicted members of a network that ran programs for foreigners without medical indications and for couples who did not meet the requirements of Procedure No. 787. On the basis of plea agreements, the courts sentenced the program coordinator and a lawyer to five years' imprisonment, suspended on probation (judgments of the Podilskyi District Court of Kyiv of 13 August 2024 in case No. 756/15737/23 and of the Obolonskyi District Court of Kyiv of 5 September 2024 in case No. 756/15734/23). The Obolonskyi District Court of Kyiv convicted two interpreters of participating in a criminal organisation and aiding human trafficking and sentenced them to five years' imprisonment, suspended on probation (judgment of 28 October 2024 in case No. 756/1293/24).

In its judgment, the Podilskyi District Court of Kyiv found that the agreements with the surrogate mothers provided for penalties and financial sanctions and that the organisers used them to threaten the women. Under the organisers' plan, the surrogate mother was to register the child with herself as the biological mother and the client as the father, and give notarised permission for the child to travel abroad with him. One of the clients tried to register the children's birth himself in breach of Procedure No. 787. Civil registry staff detected this and called the police. The police removed the children (judgment of 13 August 2024 in case No. 756/15737/23). In August 2026, National Police investigators served a notice of suspicion under Article 149(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on the director of a Kyiv medical centre who, according to the investigation, admitted a foreign couple without medical indications to a program and did not tell the surrogate mother about the penalties in her agreement. According to the National Police, the twins she gave birth to died in hospital. The suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court judgment.

If the police and the children's service have removed a child, the spouses establish paternity and maternity in court on the basis of a genetic expert opinion. In April 2020, the police and the children's service removed from an apartment children born to surrogate mothers for two married couples. On the first couple's claim, the Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv recognised the couple's paternity and maternity of their child on the basis of a molecular genetic test report (judgment of 4 April 2023 in case No. 760/7095/21). On the second couple's claim, the Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv recognised paternity and maternity on the basis of an expert opinion that the expert had prepared from the father's DNA profile taken from a certificate, without his biological samples. The Kyiv Court of Appeal ordered a repeat examination, but the father did not appear for sampling. The appeal court therefore set the judgment aside and dismissed the claim. The Supreme Court agreed that the father had evaded the examination and upheld the appeal ruling (ruling of 16 September 2026 in case No. 760/6143/21). The firm has described defence in criminal proceedings on its page on criminal cases.

Surrogacy under martial law

After martial law was introduced, the Ministry of Health amended Procedure No. 787 (Order No. 383 of 6 March 2024). Since then, clinics have carried out programs on the conclusion of a multidisciplinary medical panel, the surrogate mother has been examined by a psychiatrist, and the child and the surrogate mother are kept apart after the birth. The Ministry of Health did not introduce any citizenship requirements for intended parents with these amendments. Separately, the Ministry of Health determined which document confirms the birth of a child outside a healthcare facility for the period of martial law.

Programs continue under martial law, and a certificate from a medical worker confirms a birth outside a healthcare facility

As of November 2026, the Verkhovna Rada has not adopted any of the bills that propose to restrict surrogacy for foreigners, so clinics run programs for foreign couples on the terms of Procedure No. 787 (see the section “Bills on surrogacy for foreigners” below).

If the birth took place outside a healthcare facility and the medical worker cannot complete a medical birth certificate, the medical worker issues a certificate in free form (paragraph 2 of Order of the Ministry of Health No. 407 of 4 March 2022 “On Ensuring the Registration of a Newborn Child under Martial Law”). During martial law, such a certificate confirms the birth and is equivalent to a medical birth certificate (paragraph 3 of the same Order). The civil registry office registers the birth on the basis of this document after checking in the State Register of Civil Status Acts that the birth has not yet been registered (paragraph 2 of chapter 1 of section III of Rules No. 52/5).

The child of a foreign couple leaves Ukraine on a passport issued by the parents' state

Since the child of a foreign couple is not a Ukrainian citizen, the rules on leaving Ukraine that apply to children who are Ukrainian citizens do not apply to the child. If one of the spouses is a Ukrainian citizen, the child is a Ukrainian citizen by birth (Article 7 of the Law of Ukraine “On Citizenship of Ukraine”) and leaves under the rules for children who are Ukrainian citizens.

The spouses must be present in person to provide genetic material, visit the consulate and leave with the child

The spouses must be present in person to provide genetic material if the clinic has no cryopreserved embryos or gametes, to obtain the child's passport or travel document at the consulate under the rules of the parents' state, and to leave Ukraine with the child. A representative can take all other steps: the attorney reviews the agreements, takes part in notarial acts, files documents with the civil registry office and represents the spouses in court. At the spouses' request, the clinic transports their cryopreserved embryos or gametes to another clinic in Ukraine or abroad (paragraph 11.3 of Procedure No. 787), so the spouses do not need to provide genetic material again to continue the program at another clinic.

Bills on surrogacy for foreigners

As of November 2026, the Verkhovna Rada has not adopted any law restricting foreigners' participation in surrogacy programs. Government bill No. 13683 has been withdrawn from consideration. Bills No. 15507 and No. 15506 are under review by committees of the Verkhovna Rada. Spouses starting a program need to know what stage bill No. 15507 has reached and how it proposes to deal with agreements concluded before it enters into force.

Government bill No. 13683 has been withdrawn

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine submitted bill No. 13683 “On the Use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies” to the Verkhovna Rada, which registered it on 22 August 2025. The Verkhovna Rada put it on its agenda by Resolution No. 4775-IX of 10 February 2026. On 16 July 2026 the bill was withdrawn and removed from consideration (bill No. 13683 page on the Verkhovna Rada website). This bill will therefore not become law.

Bill No. 15507 proposes to ban surrogacy for foreigners and to keep agreements already signed with them in force for no more than nine months

On 10 August 2026, MP Serhii Kuzminykh registered bill No. 15507 on amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine to safeguard state interests and protect children's rights in the use of assisted reproductive technologies (surrogacy). As of November 2026, the bill is under review by the lead committee, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy (bill No. 15507 page). The author proposes to allow surrogacy for Ukrainian citizens who have permanently resided in Ukraine for at least three years and to ban it for foreigners and stateless persons, except where one of the spouses is a Ukrainian citizen. For birth registration, the author proposes to require documents confirming that at least one of the genetic parents is a Ukrainian citizen. The author proposes that agreements with foreigners concluded before the law enters into force remain valid until fully performed, but for no more than nine months (according to a review of the bill published by Sudovo-Yurydychna Hazeta on 4 November 2026). Agreements that spouses sign as of November 2026 must therefore set out how money is refunded and what happens to the embryos if a change in the law makes it impossible to continue the program.

In the accompanying bill No. 15506, the same author proposes to introduce criminal liability for breaching the conditions for using assisted reproductive technologies. The Verkhovna Rada put it on its agenda by Resolution No. 4958-IX of 1 September 2026. As of November 2026, the bill is under review by the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Law Enforcement (bill No. 15506 page).

How a DISPUTES attorney can help

For the spouses, the outcome of a program depends on three stages: the terms of the agreements signed before the first payment, a complete set of documents for registering the birth, and how quickly the spouses make a claim if the clinic, the agency or the surrogate mother breaches the agreement. Disputes Law Firm is not a surrogacy agency and does not select clinics or surrogate mothers. The attorney provides professional legal assistance at each of these stages. The firm describes disputes over a child's parentage and other disputes between family members on its family law page.

Reviewing agreements before signing

The work begins with an analysis of the draft agreements with the clinic, the agency and the surrogate mother that the clinic and the agency have offered the spouses. The attorney checks the terms against Procedure No. 787 and Rules No. 52/5 and prepares a risk table with proposed amendments, in particular on:

  • the grounds for and amount of a refund if no pregnancy occurs, or in case of miscarriage, stillbirth, withdrawal by any party or a change in the law;
  • the clinic's obligations regarding pregnancy care, identification of biological material and an independent DNA test before the birth is registered;
  • the fate of cryopreserved embryos, the period and cost of storage, transport abroad, and how the embryos are dealt with on the death or divorce of the spouses;
  • the deadline by which the surrogate mother signs her consent to the spouses being recorded as parents, and the consequences if she refuses;
  • the spouses' obligations if twins or a child with developmental disorders are born;
  • the point at which the agency's obligations count as performed, and the reports it provides;
  • the prevailing language version and the dispute resolution procedure.

Legal due diligence of the clinic and the agency

Before the first payment, the attorney checks the clinic's licence to practise medicine and the details of the legal entity, its founders and ultimate beneficial owners. The attorney also checks court cases and criminal proceedings involving the clinic, the agency or their officers, and establishes exactly who the spouses are to pay and into which accounts. On completing the check, the attorney gives the spouses a written opinion setting out the risks identified. The attorney checks other counterparties as part of the firm's legal due diligence of transactions and counterparties.

Representation in Ukraine and notarial acts

The attorney represents the spouses in dealings with the clinic, the agency and the authorities and takes part in signing the agreements before a notary. After the birth, the attorney checks that the notary has certified the surrogate mother's signature on the consent statement and that the clinic has issued the certificate of genetic relationship in the form of Annex 18 to Procedure No. 787. Clinic visits and monitoring of the program's progress are not part of legal support, and the attorney and the client agree on such services separately.

Support with birth registration and the child's documents

After the child is born, the attorney checks the set of documents for the civil registry office, supports the registration, obtains duplicate birth certificates and arranges the apostille. If the civil registry office refuses registration or does not deal with the application, the attorney challenges the refusal or inaction in an administrative court. If the parents' state of citizenship requires a Ukrainian court decision, the attorney prepares an application to establish the family relationship and represents the spouses in court.

Disputes with clinics and agencies

If a clinic or agency has breached the agreement, the attorney analyses the agreement and the correspondence, identifies which claims are based on the agreement and the law, and prepares a demand to refund the money or perform the obligations. If the clinic or agency does not satisfy the demand, the attorney files a claim in court for recovery of the money, compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage, or a declaration that the agreement is invalid. If the actions of the clinic or agency show signs of a criminal offence, the attorney files a crime report and represents the spouses as victims.

Working with clients abroad

The attorney provides professional legal assistance fully remotely in about 99% of cases. The spouses need to be present in Ukraine only to provide genetic material, visit the consulate and leave with the child. The attorney files documents with the court electronically and takes part in hearings by video link where the court has the technical means to do so (Article 212 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine).

Frequent Questions

A program usually rests on three or four agreements: the agreement with the clinic for medical services, the agreement with the agency if one coordinates the program, the agreement between the surrogate mother and the spouses, and the agreement on cryopreservation of embryos. The clinic admits the spouses to the program only with a notarized copy of the written agreement between the surrogate mother and the spouses (paragraph 6.11 of the Procedure for the Use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies in Ukraine, approved by Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 787 of 9 September 2013).

The review checks who is the party to each agreement, to whose account each payment goes and whether the obligations in the different agreements match, because the clinic, the agency and the surrogate mother are bound only by what their own agreement says.

No. The law determines who the child's parents are (Article 123(2) of the Family Code of Ukraine) and sets the medical conditions and the list of documents for the program (Section VI of Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 787). Payments, the surrogate mother's obligations, penalties and the fate of unused embryos are defined only in the agreement.

Where the agreement is silent, courts apply the general rules of the Civil Code of Ukraine on service agreements together with Order No. 787 (Supreme Court ruling of 23 October 2019 in case No. 150/628/16-ts). For this reason the wording of each clause determines what the intended parents can actually claim.

When an embryo conceived by the spouses is transferred to another woman, the spouses are the child's parents (Article 123(2) of the Family Code of Ukraine), and the surrogate mother cannot contest their parenthood (Article 139(2) of the Family Code of Ukraine). At least one of the intended parents must have a genetic link with the child, and the surrogate mother must not have a direct genetic link with it (paragraph 6.1 of Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 787).

The civil registry office registers the birth on the spouses' application. Together with the document confirming the birth, the spouses submit the surrogate mother's consent to record them as the parents, with her signature notarized, and a certificate of the genetic link of the parents (or one of them) with the foetus (paragraph 6.9 of Order No. 787).

No. Surrogacy is carried out only on medical indications: absence of the uterus, deformation of the uterine cavity or cervix that makes carrying a pregnancy impossible, changes of the endometrium that cannot be treated, severe diseases in which pregnancy threatens the woman's health or life, and four or more failed attempts of assisted reproduction with high-quality embryos (paragraph 6.2 of Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 787). The use of embryo transfer as such also requires medical indications and the spouses' written consent (Article 48 of the Fundamentals of Ukrainian Legislation on Health Care).

The clinic confirms the indication with medical documents, so they are prepared before the agreements are signed.

The rules that record intended parents as the child's parents are written for spouses, that is, a husband and wife in a registered marriage (Article 123(2) of the Family Code of Ukraine). The spouses' documents for the program include a marriage certificate, and the birth is registered on the spouses' application (paragraphs 6.9 and 6.11 of Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 787).

An unmarried couple or a single intended parent falls outside these rules. Before any agreement is signed, it has to be established whether the clinic will admit them to the program and how the child's origin will be determined after the birth.

Yes. The parties are free to determine the terms of an agreement within the requirements of the Civil Code of Ukraine and other acts of civil legislation (Article 627(1) of the Civil Code of Ukraine), so a draft prepared by a clinic or agency is a proposal rather than a mandatory form.

Comments are sent to the clinic or agency before signing, together with the proposed wording of each clause.

An adult with full legal capacity has the right to refuse treatment (Article 284(4) of the Civil Code of Ukraine), and every medical intervention requires the informed consent of the patient (Article 43 of the Fundamentals of Ukrainian Legislation on Health Care). Consent given in the agreement months before the procedure does not oblige the surrogate mother to undergo it, and if she refuses, the doctor records her refusal in writing.

For this reason the review checks what consequences the agreement attaches to such a refusal and whether these consequences can actually be recovered from the surrogate mother.

A court applies a refund or penalty clause only to the event the clause describes. In one case the agreement obliged the surrogate mother to repay all costs if she caused the termination of a pregnancy, but the pregnancy never began, and the Supreme Court left in force the refusal of the spouses' claim to recover their expenses (Supreme Court ruling of 23 October 2019 in case No. 150/628/16-ts). The spouses also have to prove each breach: in the same case they did not provide evidence that the surrogate mother had been informed of a schedule of doctor visits.

A court may also reduce a penalty that significantly exceeds the losses (Article 551(3) of the Civil Code of Ukraine).

The spouses apply to the clinic for cryopreservation of embryos in the form approved by Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 787 (paragraph 7.1, Annex 21). The cryopreservation agreement, signed by both spouses, should state who disposes of the embryos if one of the spouses dies or becomes incapacitated and what happens to them if the marriage ends.

If the agreement does not answer these questions, the dispute over the embryos is resolved by a court.

The review of an agreement takes 3 to 10 business days depending on the volume of the agreement and its annexes. It is done remotely: the documents are sent electronically, and the comments are discussed in writing or at a video meeting.

The due diligence covers the company's registration data, owners and managers, signatory authority, the licence for medical practice, court cases and enforcement proceedings involving the company, encumbrances on its assets and sanctions lists. Medical practice is subject to licensing (Article 7(1)(15) of the Law of Ukraine “On Licensing of Types of Economic Activity”), so the review checks that the agreement for medical services is signed by the company that holds the licence.

The result is a written report with the facts found and the risks identified in the clinic's and the agency's agreements.

A licence is required for medical practice (Article 7(1)(15) of the Law of Ukraine “On Licensing of Types of Economic Activity”), and the medical services in a surrogacy program are provided by the clinic. An agency that coordinates the program and selects the surrogate mother provides organisational services, so the licence that matters is the clinic's.

Due diligence therefore checks which company signs each agreement and to whose account the payments go. Payments to the personal accounts of employees or to a company with a similar name but without a licence leave the intended parents without a party that answers for the medical services.

A clinic that provides paid services as a business is liable for breach of the agreement unless it proves force majeure, but only if the agreement or the law does not provide otherwise (Article 906(1) of the Civil Code of Ukraine). Clinic agreements use this exception: they set penalties for patients who miss procedures, allow the clinic to terminate the agreement unilaterally and refund only part of the fees, while the clinic's own liability remains undefined.

The review identifies such clauses and proposes wording that balances the parties' obligations before the agreement is signed.

A surrogate mother may be an adult woman with full legal capacity who has her own healthy child, has submitted a voluntary written application and has no medical contraindications (paragraph 6.4 of Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 787). She must be examined by a psychiatrist (paragraph 6.3), and if she is married, the program requires her husband's consent to her participation (paragraph 6.10).

The review checks that the documents in the program file meet these requirements, since the clinic includes them in the file before the embryo transfer.

A judgment against a clinic or agency has value only if it can be enforced. Court cases show how the company acts in disputes with patients and whether criminal proceedings concern its activity, and the registers of encumbrances and real property show whether it has assets to answer claims for losses under Article 906(1) of the Civil Code of Ukraine.

No. Disputes Law Firm does not act as a surrogacy agency or program coordinator and represents only the legal interests of its clients. Due diligence gives the intended parents verified facts about the company, and the decision to sign the agreement remains theirs.

Due diligence does not assess the quality of medical services and does not predict the medical outcome of the program.

Yes. The attorney represents intended parents in Ukraine before clinics, agencies, notaries and state authorities on the basis of the legal services agreement and the attorney's order issued by the law firm. Notarial actions on the clients' behalf, such as signing an agreement before a notary, require a notarized power of attorney, because the form of a power of attorney must correspond to the form in which the transaction is concluded (Article 245(1) of the Civil Code of Ukraine).

Representation covers actions in Ukraine; the firm does not represent clients before authorities of other countries.

Yes. The clinic accepts the agreement between the surrogate mother and the spouses into the program file only as a notarized copy (paragraph 6.11 of Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 787), so the signing is arranged at a notary's office. The lawyer attends the signing, checks that the text corresponds to the agreed version and, under a notarized power of attorney, signs the agreement on the clients' behalf if they do not come to Ukraine.

Medical procedures with the intended parents, such as the collection of their genetic material, require their presence at the clinic, because every medical intervention needs the patient's own informed consent (Article 43 of the Fundamentals of Ukrainian Legislation on Health Care). Review of agreements, due diligence, negotiations, signing agreements under a power of attorney and communication with the clinic and agency are carried out without the clients' presence.

The birth is registered on the spouses' application (paragraph 6.9 of Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 787), so the way of filing it is agreed with the civil registry office in advance.

Legal support covers documents, negotiations and the protection of the clients' rights. Actions beyond it, such as attending the embryo transfer at the clinic, meeting the surrogate mother or accompanying the clients during their visit, are agreed separately in the engagement letter, together with their cost.

The lawyer sends written requests and claims, takes part in meetings and negotiations and keeps the correspondence, which later serves as evidence if a dispute arises. Obligations are performed according to the terms of the agreement (Article 526(1) of the Civil Code of Ukraine), so every request to the clinic or agency refers to the specific clause that applies.

The firm continues to work. Review of agreements, consultations, due diligence and representation are provided remotely, and notarial actions and in-person steps are carried out in Kyiv in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine. Clients are informed of any procedural changes that affect their program.

A clinic or agency that provides paid services as a business is liable for the losses caused by its breach unless it proves force majeure or the agreement provides otherwise (Article 906(1) of the Civil Code of Ukraine). The dispute begins with a written claim based on the terms of the agreement and the evidence of the breach, and if the clinic or agency does not settle it, the lawyer files a lawsuit.

In disputes over harm caused by medical services, the patient has to point to the violation, and it is the medical institution that must prove it provided treatment properly (Supreme Court ruling of 5 August 2026 in case No. 344/4082/23).

A refund depends on the event to which the agreement links it. Courts apply refund and penalty clauses literally: a clause that applies to the termination of a pregnancy does not apply when the pregnancy never began (Supreme Court ruling of 23 October 2019 in case No. 150/628/16-ts).

If the program failed through the fault of the clinic, the spouses recover their losses under Article 906(1) of the Civil Code of Ukraine. The analysis of the agreement and payment documents shows which payments can be claimed and from whom.

If an agency intentionally misled the intended parents about circumstances of material importance, for example about the company that holds the licence or about where the payments go, the court declares the agreement invalid, and the agency compensates the losses in double amount together with moral damage (Article 230 of the Civil Code of Ukraine).

Where the program was used to obtain money by deception, the lawyer also prepares a crime report on fraud (Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Embryo transfer requires the written consent of the spouses (Article 48 of the Fundamentals of Ukrainian Legislation on Health Care). In a case where the clinic staff used donor gametes and embryos without the spouses' consent, the Supreme Court agreed that these actions were unlawful, upheld the award of moral damages against the clinic and sent the claim for property damage back to the appellate court for a new hearing (Supreme Court ruling of 5 August 2026 in case No. 344/4082/23).

The surrogate mother cannot contest the spouses' parenthood (Article 139(2) of the Family Code of Ukraine), but without her notarized consent the civil registry office does not register the birth in the ordinary procedure (paragraph 6.9 of Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 787). The spouses' rights are then protected in court, where their genetic link with the child is proven by molecular genetic (DNA) expertise.

The civil registry office may refuse registration only if the registration contradicts the law, if it must be carried out by another office or if the applicant lacks capacity or authority, and the refusal must be reasoned in writing (Article 21 of the Law of Ukraine “On State Registration of Civil Status Acts”). A refusal on other grounds is appealed in an administrative court, and the lawyer prepares the claim on the basis of the written refusal.

Payments to the surrogate mother are owed on the terms and at the events set out in the agreement (Article 526(1) of the Civil Code of Ukraine), so a demand for additional payment has no legal basis. A refusal to hand over the child or to sign the consent to registration in exchange for money is grounds for protecting the spouses' rights in court.

Every client of Disputes Law Firm, without exception, signs a legal-services agreement in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On the Bar and Practice of Law."

An appendix to the agreement, called the "Assignment," clearly sets out the specific service the client will receive, the result the client expects, the point at which the client's instruction is considered duly performed, and the fee for the work along with the terms of payment.

One copy of the agreement stays with the law firm, and one is given to the client.

We do guarantee that every member of Disputes Law Firm — lawyers and management alike — will take diligent, high-quality, and timely action aimed at achieving the result the client expects.

We do guarantee that, under any circumstances, we will not take, or fail to take, any action that would harm the client's legally protected rights and interests.

We do guarantee that we will not disclose to any third party, without the client's written consent, any information obtained by the firm while performing the agreement.

At the same time, we do not guarantee, and are not responsible for, the actions, decisions, or omissions of third parties, including court staff, judges, prosecutors, enforcement officers, staff of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the management or staff of enterprises, institutions, and organisations of any form of ownership, or of private individuals.

Why? Because we can only guarantee what falls within our own will and responsibility — the decisions, actions, and omissions of third parties are not within our control.

Disputes Law Firm takes on clients from Ukraine and from abroad alike, which is why we offer nearly every payment method commonly used internationally.

You can pay in cash at our office, by card at our office payment terminal, through the Privat24 online banking system, by bank transfer to any branch, or in foreign currency to a foreign-currency account.

For clients abroad, we also offer payment by PayPal and by IBAN transfer in euros or US dollars.

Since 2015, our clients have left reviews on platforms including TrustPilot, Google My Business, and Facebook.

You are welcome to read these reviews before deciding whether to work with our firm.

When setting the fee, we take into account the complexity of the case, the time the work will require, the client's financial circumstances, and other relevant factors provided for by the Law of Ukraine "On the Bar and Practice of Law."

In most cases we offer a fixed fee: an agreed, set amount for the service that covers the work through to the expected result.

Where the complexity or unusual nature of a matter makes it impossible to estimate the time the client's instruction will require, we offer hourly billing instead.

To assess the fee, you will need to provide details of your circumstances, answer the lawyer's questions, and supply the relevant documents.

Please get in touch using whichever method suits you from the "Contacts" section of this site, or via the "Ask a Lawyer" button, for answers to any questions you may have — including about the cost of our services.

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5, Pyrohova Street, Office 2A, Second Floor, Kyiv, Ukraine, 01054

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