Surrogacy Options Abroad for U.S. Couples

Published April 5, 2019

Every married couple wants to have children. It is no exaggeration to say that a family is considered complete and happy if it has children. Unfortunately, in the modern world many people are faced with the problem of infertility that thwarts their hopes for having descendants. Until recently, the problem of infertility was seemingly intractable. However, about twenty years ago, assisted reproductive technologies and the opportunity to use the services of surrogate mothers came to the rescue of the infertile couples, who were dreaming for a long time of experiencing the joy of motherhood and fatherhood.

Assisted reproductive technologies have become a breakthrough in the field of infertility treatment. Thanks to the high level of scientific and technological progress and the high level of medical care, the United States of America definitely occupy the first place in this field.

However, it is worth noting that not all U.S. states have a positive attitude towards the use of assisted reproductive technologies. Surrogate motherhood is governed by state law, not by federal law. In many U.S. states, surrogacy is prohibited (for example, in Arizona, Michigan, and New Jersey). The surrogacy law in the United States is constantly changing. State laws are different from one another. In some states, surrogacy is prohibited, as we have already mentioned before and in many of them there is no legal regulation regarding the conclusion of binding legal contracts between spouses and a surrogate mother. The most loyal attitude towards surrogacy exists in California and Florida. There, practically any citizen can use the services of a surrogate mother, regardless of his/her marital status and sexual orientation.

Although health care in the United States is at a high level of development, it should be noted that prices for medical treatment in the United States are among the highest in the world. Hence, many couples simply cannot afford to undergo an IVF procedure or use the services of a surrogate mother. Therefore, many of them prefer to go abroad to gain the happiness of parenthood.

Here it is necessary to clarify some of the legal nuances of the U.S. law related to the birth of a child of a surrogate mother who is a citizen of a foreign state. The U.S. Department of State says it clearly that in the event of a child being born to an American couple abroad, it is necessary to observe one of the two conditions stipulated in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), so that the child is considered a U.S. citizen and can live with their biological parents in America. In particular, it reads as follows:

A child born abroad must be biologically related to a U.S. citizen parent who meets the following statutory transmission requirements of INA 301 or 309 in order for the child to acquire U.S. citizenship at birth:

• A U.S. citizen father must be the genetic parent of the child and meet all other statutory requirements in order to transmit U.S. citizenship to the child at birth.
• A U.S. citizen mother must be the genetic and/or the gestational and legal mother of the child at the time and place of the child’s birth and must meet all other statutory requirements in order to transmit U.S. citizenship to the child at birth.

DNA testing is often the best way to establish a genetic or blood relationship after the child is born. Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) testing is the most accurate and widely available technology to test a biological relationship. DNA sample collection must be in accordance with American Association of Blood Bank (AABB) and Department of State standards and procedures. Once the analysis is complete, the AABB laboratory in the United States will send the results directly to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Only results sent directly to the Embassy or Consulate by the AABB lab will be accepted.

A U.S. citizen parent who has a biological child overseas, including via a foreign surrogate mother, may apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad of an American Citizen (CRBA) and a U.S. passport for the child at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in the country where the child was born.

Parents must provide evidence to the local U.S. Embassy or Consulate of the child’s identity, birth, and citizenship. In an ART case, the parents may be requested to provide medical and documentary evidence of the child’s conception and birth and such other evidence to demonstrate the biological connection between parent and child, along with evidence of the parents’ identity, citizenship, parent’s requisite physical presence in the United States, and legal status as the child’s parent under local law.

Despite a lot of difficulties, many American citizens are going to Ukraine in order to take advantage of assisted reproductive technologies and the services of surrogate mothers. Firstly, cost of surrogacy in Ukraine is three to four times cheaper than in the United States, secondly, medical care is at the level of the best American and European clinics, thirdly, commercial surrogate motherhood is fully legally allowed in Ukraine, and fourthly, the American legal system works so well that if biological parents follow all the rules, they can easily take their child back to the United States.

The Network of Reproductive Medical Centers (ISO 9001:2015 certified) “Mother and Child” that employs the highly renowned reproductive embryologists and long-standing members of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) has been successfully involved for over eleven years in practical application of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and various types of surrogacy programs at affordable cost that resulted in birth of 9,074 healthy children and helped thousands of people throughout the world to find the happiness of parenthood.

Please contact IVF Group Surrogacy Services at +1(213) 277-5874 or visit our website at www.ivf-international.com to find out more or to schedule a consultation with a reproductive embryologist.