Yesterday in many leading Ukrainian media information that the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine suspects Kiev clinic of a reproduction BioTexCom for trafficking children and forgery appeared. The Attorney-General of Ukraine Yuryi Lutsenko at the briefing which is specially organized for this purpose reported about it. The Attorney-General reported that the BioTexCom company forged documents and gave to customers biologically not their children. Let’s remind that according to the legislation of Ukraine surrogacy provides obligatory biological relationship at least with one of parents. This rule, according to the Attorney-General of Ukraine BioTexCom clinic neglected and there is a suspicion that about one thousand families could suffer from its criminal activity. One of such cases was revealed by the Italian law enforcement authorities when it became clear that the Italian married couple, having used services of BioTexCom in 2011 is not biological parents of the child. Documents were forged as the carried-out expertize showed. At the moment the Italian married couple is in Italy under arrest.
In addition the investigation recorded the evasion facts of violators from payment of income tax in the sum of several tens of millions of hryvnias. Established facts of evasion tax on the income of women who provided services in surrogacy. On the elicited facts criminal proceedings are opened.
Law enforcement authorities directed 16 international instructions to other states of rather specific babies for a research of probable surrogate parents and test of DNA.
In addition, Yuriy Lutsenko appealed to the Verkhovna Rada and the Ministry of Health with a request to develop a clear regulatory framework in the matter of surrogate motherhood.
The Attorney-General reported that the Italian spouses “bought” the baby with mediation of clinic of a reproduction BioTexCom. Besides, the clinic carried out more than one thousand such transactions and women from a front-line zone who earned on survival were surrogate mothers mainly. On July 16 to employees of BioTexCom it is reported about suspicion under the article about human trafficking and forgery. They are threatened by from 8 to 15 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property. The investigation will insist on arrest.
In turn the head of the Kiev clinic BioTexCom rejects all brought charges, and the case with the Italian couple is called a possible medical mistake, promising to make own internal investigation at the same time.
We will refrain from any comments without delay, but already now it is necessary to recognize that it is very serious reputation blow to the Ukrainian clinics of a reproduction. With confidence it is possible to tell that they did not need such “promotion”. We promise to keep our readers informed of further events …