Not without my son

Moscow officials arrest a Chinese national, seize his baby born of a surrogate mother, and charge the father with human trafficking

Over the weekend, Moscow investigators separated a Chinese national from his one-year-old son born of a surrogate mother and charged the man with human trafficking. The child is now hospitalized. Mikhail Baklanov, the lawyer representing Liu Jun, says the authorities interrogated his client for 15 hours before they finally arrested him, despite a past court order that allows him to return with his son to China, where his wife awaits them both.

Officials first opened this felony case a year ago, in June 2020, when police raided a Moscow apartment and discovered five newborn babies born by Russian surrogate mothers for Chinese nationals. One of these children was Liu Jun’s son. The authorities took the babies into custody and placed them in a children’s home. Following court rulings and genetic testing that confirmed the babies’ parentage, three of the children were later returned to their Chinese mothers and fathers.

Mikhail Baklanov says his client also has a verdict from Moscow’s Babushkinsky District Court ordering the child’s transfer to his parents. The boy has a Chinese passport and he was already living with his father at the “Hanoi-Moscow” hotel, waiting for a flight back to China. On June 25, however, federal investigators raided their room and seized their documents and phones. The next morning, they were brought in for questioning.

“They blackmailed this man, trying to force him to sign a statement whereby he surrendered his son once again to state custody, supposedly in order to avoid arrest. In other words, they wanted to take the child hostage while they conduct their criminal investigation, so the boy can be material evidence,” Baklanov told journalists. When Liu Jun refused the offer, the officers raised his status in the case from witness to suspect and promptly arrested him and seized the child.

On Monday, June 28, a Moscow court rejected investigators’ request to jail Liu Jun, who bowed to the judge in thanks after he was freed.

Speaking to the radio station Govorit Moskva, Presidential Human Rights Council member Eva Merkacheva said she has appealed formally to both the Investigative Committee and Attorney General’s Office about the charges against Liu Jun, which she calls “made-up.” Merkacheva reminded listeners that surrogacy is legal in Russia and emphasized that genetic testing has determined definitively that the babies at the center of the Moscow criminal case are the children of Chinese parents. “You get the feeling that someone has decided to destroy this reproductive technology completely,” said Merkacheva.

In early June, lawmakers in the State Duma submitted draft legislation that would ban foreigners from using surrogacy services in Russia. According to the bill’s explanatory note, the new restrictions are designed to protect children.