We are living in an era of advanced technologies, where modern medicine gives a lot of hope to couples who wish to have children. Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) is the most successful treatment for a lot of people experiencing infertility, though not everybody who is in need of this type of care can access it due to different cultural, political and religious factors. There are various reasons why people who can’t achieve the dream of parenthood in their home country travel abroad for fertility treatment: legal restrictions in the home country, economic factors, long waiting lists, quality of services etc.

Surrogacy, being one of the effective methods of infertility treatment, is gaining popularity through the world year by year. Infertile couples seeking to have a child through surrogacy travel from one country to another, effectively avoiding restrictions or bypassing bans imposed on surrogacy in their jurisdiction.

At the present time, Ukraine is one of the most perspective countries in the world with regard to modern reproductive technologies, including IVF, egg/sperm donation and surrogacy, providing the patients with proved quality of services, experienced medical staff, excellent level of care and appropriate infrastructure, and all this at affordable prices.

However, Ukrainian Association of Reproductive Medicine (UARM) acknowledges that legal framework for the use of Assisted Reproductive Technology in Ukraine is not sufficient enough to meet all practical needs. Regulatory improvement of legal mechanism for fertility treatment in Ukraine has become a burning question requiring urgent decisions.

In course of comprehensive discussions of reproductive medicine issues with the heads of Ukrainian fertility clinics the appropriate Resolution was adopted on November 24, 2011 by the Extended Meeting of Board and Presidium of Ukrainian Association of Reproductive Medicine. The main positions are set out in the aforementioned resolution are as follows:

1. To work out methodical guidelines „Medical and Legal Aspects of Reproductive Medicine“ through involvement of fertility specialists, Ministry of Healthcare of Ukraine, Ministry of Interior of Ukraine and other interested parties;

2. To work out the „Statute on Voluntary Accreditation of Fertility Clinics” that should be agreed with the Ministry of Healthcare of Ukraine;

3. To approach Ukrainian Parliament (the Verkhovna Rada) with a proposal to set up a working group for drafting the Bill “On Human Reproduction”;

4. To work out methodical guidelines “Carrying out of ART Cycles”, specifying basic provisions and practical application of the “’Instruction on Procedures for Assisted Reproductive Technologies”, adopted by the Order of the Ministry of Health No. 771 of 12/23/2008;

5. To develop a list of law offices and agencies that are recommended by Ukrainian Association of Reproductive Medicine for legal support in the filed of ART and place this information on the web-site of UARM.