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MOSCOW: Eight Russians have been arrested and charged with human trafficking in the country’s first surrogacy probe, and a court on Monday was to consider extending the arrests.
Surrogacy is legal in Russia and has been a lucrative business for many years.
However, a criminal probe was made possible due to “ambiguities” in legislation, defence lawyer Igor Trunov told AFP, adding it was the first such case in Russia’s history.
As part of the probe, eight people have been arrested including several doctors, the head of a surrogacy firm, a courier, and a surrogate mother. The surrogate mother is being held under house arrest while other suspects are in pre-trial detention.
On Monday, seven of the eight suspects were in a Moscow court as defence appealed their arrests, Trunov said.
The probe was launched after one of the babies born to a surrogate mother was found dead in a flat outside Moscow in January. (AFP)
Surrogacy is legal in Russia and has been a lucrative business for many years.
However, a criminal probe was made possible due to “ambiguities” in legislation, defence lawyer Igor Trunov told AFP, adding it was the first such case in Russia’s history.
As part of the probe, eight people have been arrested including several doctors, the head of a surrogacy firm, a courier, and a surrogate mother. The surrogate mother is being held under house arrest while other suspects are in pre-trial detention.
On Monday, seven of the eight suspects were in a Moscow court as defence appealed their arrests, Trunov said.
The probe was launched after one of the babies born to a surrogate mother was found dead in a flat outside Moscow in January. (AFP)
