religious concern centered mainly around the importance of and confusion of lineage and inheritance. other christian denominations have a wide variety of views from encouraging surrogacy as it shares the blessing of parenthood, to viewing surrogacy as a means of confused identity in a child and a disruption in traditional marital practices and procreation. catholicism; however, generally views any third party involved in marriage or procreation to be an intrusion, and thus commonly views gestational surrogacy as an intrusion to the marital bond. religion has led to legal bans on surrogacy in some countries. for instance, in costa rica the catholic church successfully lobbied to ban surrogacy. destinations some countries, such as the united states, canada, georgia, ukraine, and russia are popular foreign surrogacy destinations. eligibility, processes and costs differ from country to country. previously popular destinations, india, nepal, thailand, and mexico have since 2014 banned commercial surrogacy for non-residents or allow it only for heterosexual married couples. thailand criminalized surrogacy by foreigners and same-sex couples in 2014, prompted by incidents of surrogate parents behaving badly. the most notable of those cases was that of baby gammy, a twin born with down syndrome and left behind by the australians who contracted his birth (his sister, who was not born with the disorder, was taken with them to australia). it did not help that gammy's biological father was also a convicted sex offender. fertility tourism for surrogacy is driven by legal restrictions in the home country or the incentive of lower prices abroad. popular destinations are those which permit commercial gestational surrogacy, where the cost is relatively low, and which give the intended parents legal rights over the newborn child, whether by streamlined adoption procedures or direct parental rights. india india was a main destination for surrogacy because of the relatively low cost until international surrogacy was outlawed in 2015. although there are no official figures available, a 2012 united nations report counted around 3,000 fertility clinics in india. india's surrogacy business was estimated at around $1 billion annually. indian surrogates became increasingly popular amongst intended parents in industrialized nations because of the relatively low costs and easy access offered by indian surrogacy agencies. clinics charged people between $10,000 and $28,000 for the complete package, including fertilization, the surrogate's fee, and delivery of the baby at a hospital. including the costs of flight tickets, medical procedures and hotels, this represented roughly a third of the price of the procedure in the uk and a fifth of that in the us. in 2013, surrogacy by foreign homosexual couples and single parents was banned. in 2015, the government banned commercial surrogacy in india and permitted entry of embryos only for research purposes. russia liberal legislation makes russia attractive for “reproductive tourists” looking for techniques not available in their countries. intended parents come there for oocyte donation, because of advanced age or marital status (single women and single men) and when surrogacy is considered. gestational surrogacy, even commercial is absolutely legal in russia, being available for practically all adults willing to be parents. foreigners have the same rights for assisted reproduction as russian citizens. within 3 days after the birth the commissioning parents obtain a russian birth certificate with both their names on it. genetic relation to the child (in case of donation) doesn’t matter. on 4 august 2010, a moscow court ruled that a single man who applied for gestational surrogacy (using donor eggs) could be registered as the only parent of his son, becoming the first man in russia to defend his right to become a father through a court procedure. the surrogate mother’s name was not listed on the birth certificate; the father was listed as the only parent. however, courts do not always take the side of such parents. in 2014, a moscow court denied registration of the baby born via surrogacy to the single man; the decision was upheld on appeal. ukraine ukraine has seen a significant increase in international surrogacy since 2015, when the practice was banned in several asian countries that had been popular destinations. surrogacy is completely legal in ukraine. however, only healthy mothers who have had at least one child before can become surrogates. ukrainian surrogate mother are mostly from small towns or rural areas. the full surrogate package may cost around $50,000, with the surrogate receiving less than 50% of that amount. surrogates in ukraine have zero parental rights over the child, as stated on article 123 of the family code of ukraine. thus, a surrogate cannot refuse to hand the baby over in case she changes her mind after birth. only married couples can legally go through gestational surrogacy in ukraine, but they have to be able to prove they cannot carry a baby themselves for medical reasons. also at least one parent must have a genetic link to the baby (egg donors are therefore frequently used). gay couples and single parents are prohibited to use gestational surrogates. belarus surrogacy is legally allowed in belarus from 2006, however, major clients for such kind of services in this country are mainly russian citizens. according to belarusian legislation, surrogacy can be used here due to strict medical indications by married heterosexual couples and single women (for single women only in case they are able to provide their own oocytes). unlike russia or ukraine, in belarus intended mother is written not only in the legal birth certificate issued by local authorities, but also appear in the medical birth certificate given by the maternity house, where delivery of the surrogate mother took place. this gives to the intended parents legal ability to take baby directly from the maternity house, being sure that no one will claim parental rights over the children born via surrogacy. in belarus only healthy women in the age from 20 to 35 years old, who are in legal marriage and have at least one healthy child can be surrogate mothers. essential conditions of surrogacy agreement, that should be notarized, are also specified in the law "on assisted reproductive technologies". united states people travel to the united states for surrogacy procedures for the high quality of medical technology and care, as well as the high level of legal protections afforded through some us state courts to surrogacy contracts as compared to other countries. increasingly, same sex couples who face restrictions using ivf and surrogacy procedures in their home countries travel to us states where it is legal. the united states is occasionally sought as a location for surrogate mothers by couples seeking a green card in the us, since the resulting child can get birthright citizenship in the united states and can thereby apply for green cards for the parents when the child turns 21 years of age. surrogacy costs in usa between $95,000 and $150,000 for the complete package, including fertilization, legal fees, compensation, the agency's fee. canada canada has recently become a more popular foreign surrogacy destination, with almost half the babies born to canadian surrogates in british columbia in 2016 and 2017 being for foreign parents. numerous reasons have been proposed to explain canada's rising popularity as an international surrogacy destination. for one, canada is one of the few destinations that still allows surrogacy for foreign commissioning parents. while, greece, ukraine, russia, georgia and a few u.s. states also permit surrogacy for foreign commissioning parents, canada does not discriminate on the basis of marital status or sexual orientation. canada is also attractive because it is fairly efficient in granting legal parental rights, declaring legal parenthood and issuing birth certificates within weeks of birth. this contrasts with other countries with lengthier processes that often deter commissioning parents wanting to quickly return home with their new babies. canada's strong and universal healthcare system also makes it a favourable international surrogacy destination, as pregnant women in canada receive high-quality, publicly funded healthcare throughout pregnancy, during delivery, and after birth. this reduces the risk of pregnancy complications, which is often a significant concern of commissioning parents.