The highest judicial body of RF refused the child’s genetic parents’ complaint on procedure for registration of children born by surrogacy program.

Thus, the lower court decree on legality of registration the surrogate mother and her ex-husband as the child’s parents was upheld.
In early 2010, a woman in Ulyanovsk region concluded an agreement with genetic parents, according to which she pledged to carry the genetic parents’ child, give him birth and transfer to his father and mother.

But soon there was a conflict between the parties: the surrogate mother cancelled the contract, and after the child’s birth registered him with the civil acts registry offices in her name and the name of her former husband.

Genetic parents tried in various courts to cancel the record of birth of the child and to register as the father and mother of the newborn, but they were refused everywhere.

Now the position of legislators was confirmed by the Constitutional Court: in the decision dismissing the complaints of the parents it is said that “the applicants’ contested legal provisions do not break their constitutional rights in the aspect they stated.”

However, not all the members of the Constitutional Court agreed with the decision. Judge Sergei Knyazev voted against a refusal to consider the complaint and on this occasion expressed his personal opinion.

“Settling an exclusive prerogative of a surrogate mother in resolving the issue of empowering genetic (biological) parents’ maternal and paternal rights, the legislator is not responding to the interests of the persons whose gametes were used to fertilize the female carrying the fetus,” – said the judge.

“This creates a legal ground for upsetting the balance of constitutional values and denial of rights and legitimate interests of not only both genetic parents, but also a child born as a result of the corresponding assisted reproductive technologies”, – said Sergei Knyazev.