In Primorye, eight health workers were accused of selling newborns abroad

In the Primorsky Territory, eight health workers of a private clinic will be judged, who are accused of children's trade (paragraph “B” of part 3 of Article 127.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). This was reported by the prosecutor's office of the Primorsky Territory.

According to investigators, from 2018 to 2020, a group of doctors illegally executed medical documentation, which contained false information about the infertility of customers and genetic parents.

“Using auxiliary reproductive technologies under the guise of treating infertility, the defendants carried out actions to cultivate embryos and the subsequent birth of children in order to sell them and subsequent movement abroad,” the prosecutor's office said.

The agency claims that as a result, 13 newborns, "obviously in a helpless state, for a total of more than 53 million rubles, was sold.

The case will be considered by the Frunze District Court of Vladivostok. The maximum punishment under Part 3 of Article 127.1 is up to 15 years in prison.

As specified in the prosecutor's office, Kommersant, that we are talking about "surrogate motherhood by order of foreigners." The amount specified in the case file includes payment of procedures in the clinic and reward to surrogate mothers.

• In January 2020, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on the trade in children after four babies from surrogate mothers were found in the apartment in the Moscow Region, one of whom died. The Investigative Committee claimed that the children were born surrogate mothers for foreign citizens. In total, in the case of the trade in children there were 17 episodes that concerned the birth of 24 children from surrogate mothers for several years.
• In November 2023, the Nikulinsky court of Moscow found guilty in the case of embryologist Taras Ashitkov, reproductologist Julian Ivanov and obstetrician-gynecologist Lilia Panaioti and appointed them from 16 years old to 17.5 years in the year of the colony with a ban on medical activities for a period of three years after serving the sentence. Surrogate mothers Lilia Valeeva and Tatyana Blinova were convicted of 10.5 years and four years of a general regime, respectively. The longest term in the criminal case was received by the director of the European Center for Surrogate Motherhood, Vladislav Melnikov. He was appointed 19.5 years in a maximum security colony. Later, Taras Ashitkova, Julian Ivanova and Lilia Panaioti reduced the sentence of five years.