The new laws that could disrupt Ukraine's global surrogacy hub - Global Women, BBC World Service

As a father in Gaza, my daughter was born during this war. When I see stories about children born in conflict, it feels very personal. Every child deserves safety, love, and a peaceful life from the very beginning.

I view this as Exploitation of Young, Poor women. No woman should be that poor to be forced to sell her womb. Disgusting society.

Really interesting! I wish this documentary were longer.

Surrogacy is absolutely insane.

I'm sorry that most of the comments are criticizing the bill rather than the agencies or the parents who wouldn’t use their own “ovens” in their home countries. The problem is much deeper and broader. If you look at the age of the surrogate mothers shown in the report, many of them are only 21–22 years old. In most progressive countries, this is just the beginning of adult life — women are focused on getting degrees, building independent futures, and learning how to support themselves, regardless of whether they have a provider beside them or not. Yes, there is a war here, but this business existed long before it. These agencies target women with little education and offer them relatively small amounts of money. Many of these women were never taught other ways to earn, save, or build stability without selling their bodies. And so the cycle continues.

Surrogacy is abuse of women.

Amazing documentary, but why isn't it longer?! It's so irritating when the BBC insists on cramming in such a lot of information into such a short format. It obviously could have been explored in more depth - if only it were longer!

so, the russian war against Ukraine started in 2014.

Where is the UN in this area of exploitation of children. Surrogacy is about meeting the needs of adults but not the best interest of children. The moment that even one percent of surrogate children may be abused, neglected or trafficked then this practice must be outlawed. Children are not a commodity to be sold, and potentially discarded. War and poverty is no excuse for exploitation, besides Ukraine was already an established mecca for unregulated surrogacy before the war. Children born in surrogacy should have the right to sue: governments who allow this practice; agencies who profited from the transaction; parents who paid for them to be born and surrogates who agreed to birth them. If children are not satisfied by their lives after birth then advocacy groups consisting of litigators should be established worldwide to protect the child's rights.

Why would anyone use a surrogate from a country at war?

surrogacy is a form of human trafficking. they are trafficking the baby and the woman...women's bodies should never be for sale.

:00 They should do a DNA test. I've been hearing that these places sometimes lie about how the baby was created and whose genetic material was used.

Where is all women’s rights groups????

So you would rather the woman have to go back to counting pennies to buy her child diapers? How does that help her? With surrogacy she is able to earn enough to live comfortably while helping a family have the child that they otherwise couldn't have. Ukraine is also not exporting babies these women wouldn't be having more of their own children if they weren't surrogates they simply wouldn't be pregnant at all. Altruistic surrogacy is the most exploitative type of surrogacy where the woman who assumes all the risk gets nothing while everyone else (IVF clinic, agency, therapists, hospitals) get paid. Paid surrogacy is at least fair to the woman carrying the baby.

:50 Trading on someone's circumstances to better your own is very unscrupulous.

So the Ukrainians can vote regarding surrogacy but not on presidency?

U say yall don’t know wat happens to tha babies after picked up well it’s the parents baby that the surrogate carried so it’s really none the govt business is it. When u give birth in hospital when u leave with ur child the hospitals don’t know wat happens to baby after u leave. So shouldn’t be any difference if make new law that they have to leave deposit really high like $50,000 or $100,000 wen they pick up their child they can get that deposit then u know they’ll pick them up if also make it law that if parents done pick up the child within 2months after birth the surrogate automatically gets custody with no take backs or they have the choice to give up for adoption or to keep the baby. That lady that had them twins for almost year before they picked them kids up breaking that surrogates heart. Obvi them parents didn’t care so that’s y law should make where if they don’t come e it him time limit they use lost heir child in contract

So stupid! Would you provide for those poor women to rise there own kids while theirs loved ones at the front line? Would they give birth to more kids of there own in such a poverty when they cannot feed those kids they already have?!

The world turned into mess

Wars won't stop until such things are happening in the world. It's inhumane, it's against natural laws to bear someone's child.