MOSCOW, July 16. /TASS/: A criminal case has been opened against two directors of medical centers, three doctors, and three more staffers with the charges of trafficking children born by surrogate mothers, Investigative Committee’s spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko told TASS.
"During investigative activities and active search measures eight members of the criminal group have been detained. Among the accomplices are three doctors of private medical centers, two heads of commercial organizations, and their staff," she said.
Charges were brought against the detainees. The searches were conducted at their places of residence.
According to the investigators, in 2014-2020 in Moscow, directors and staff of two commercial organizations, with the involvement of the staff of private medical centers were offering services of surrogate mothers. The investigation thinks that they were violating the Russian legislation on the use of assisted reproductive technologies.
On July 15, Moscow’s Basmanny court arrested four obstetricians accused of trafficking children born by surrogate mothers. On Thursday, the investigation is asking to arrest four more case subjects, an interpreter among them, as well as the general director of the surrogate motherhood center.
Substance of the case
A criminal case was opened in January of this year by the Odintsovo Investigative department in the Moscow Region under Part 1, Article 109 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Infliction of death by negligence) and the clauses of Part 2, Article 127.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Human trafficking). It was opened after the discovery of a body of a newborn boy in one of the apartments in the Vniissok locality. Later the Article 127.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was changed to a graver one, and the case was transferred to the central office of the Investigative Committee of Russia. The case subjects were detained the day before with searches conducted at their residences. They are accused of several counts of child trafficking.
According to the preliminary investigative data, a boy born by surrogate mother in December of 2019 was under the nanny’s care in the apartment where three more infants, also born by surrogate mothers, resided. According to the investigation, the newborns were staying there until their biological parents, foreign citizens, were taking care of the necessary paperwork, including documents needed to transport the children abroad. The investigators and forensic specialists in the course of the investigation searched the apartment, questioned the building’s residents, the directors and the manager of the law firm on the issues of surrogate motherhood.
According to the preliminary expert findings, the cause of newborn’s death was the sudden infant death syndrome. All the necessary paperwork was subpoenaed from the law firm which specialized in surrogate motherhood program, including the appropriate licenses and surrogate motherhood contracts. The three newborns discovered at the apartment were taken to the children’s city hospital.
