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) does not matter. saudi arabia religious authorities in saudi arabia do not allow the use of gestational carriers, instead suggesting medical procedures to restore fertility and ability to deliver. serbia all surrogacy arrangements (both commercial and altruistic) are illegal. a draft of the new civil law is said to allow gestational carriers, but serbian assembly still did not adopt this law yet. on 21 april 2017, the serbian assembly started a discussion a legislation on assisted reproductive technology that bans all forms of surrogacy. (the legislation is being discussed.) south africa the south africa children's act of 2005 (which came fully into force in 2010) enabled the "commissioning parents" and the surrogate to have their surrogacy agreement validated by the high court even before fertilization. this allows the commissioning parents to be recognized as legal parents from the outset of the process and helps prevent uncertainty – although if the surrogate mother is the genetic mother she has until 60 days after the birth of the child to change her mind. the law permits single people and gay couples to be commissioning parents. however, only those domiciled in south africa benefit from the protection of the law, no non-validated agreements will be enforced, and agreements must be altruistic rather than commercial. if there is only one commissioning parent, s/he must be genetically related to the child. if there are two, they must both be genetically related to the child unless that is physically impossible due to infertility or sex (as in the case of a same-sex couple). the commissioning parent or parents must be physically unable to birth a child independently. the surrogate mother must have had at least one pregnancy and viable delivery and have at least one living child. the surrogate mother has the right to unilaterally terminate the pregnancy, but she must consult with and inform the commissioning parents, and if she is terminating for a non-medical reason, may be obliged to refund any medical reimbursements she had received. south korea as of mid-2010s, surrogacy was available and mostly unregulated in south korea. the practice is often morally stigmatized. surrogacy has declined since mid-2000s, as some aspects of commercial surrogacy became illegal. spain whereas surrogacy is not legal in spain (the biological mother's renouncement contract is not legally valid), it is legal to perform the surrogacy in a country where it is legal, having the mother the nationality from that same country. sweden surrogacy is illegal in swedish healthcare, but there are no legal regulations/laws of surrogacy for it and it remains unregulated. switzerland surrogacy is regulated in the "bundesgesetz über die medizinisch unterstützte fortpflanzung (fortpflanzungsmedizingesetz, fmedg) vom 18. dezember 1998" and illegal in switzerland. art. 4 forbids surrogacy, art. 31 regulates the punishment of clinicians who apply in vitro fertilisation for surrogacy or persons who arrange surrogacy. the surrogate mother is not punished by law. she will be the legal mother of the child. on 24 august 2014, the administrative court of the canton of st. gallen granted parentship to two men of a child born in the usa. thailand in response to the controversial baby gammy incident in 2014, thailand since 30 july 2015, has banned foreign people travelling to thailand, to have commercial surrogacy contract arrangement, under the protection of children born from assisted reproductive technologies act. only opposite-sex married couples as thailand residents are allowed to have a commercial surrogacy contract arrangement. in the past thailand was a popular destination for couples seeking surrogate mothers. ukraine ukraine is a major international surrogacy destination, given its very liberal laws, as well as the fact that prices are more affordable than in the united states. since 2002, surrogacy and surrogacy in combination with egg/sperm donation has been absolutely legal in ukraine. according to the law a donor or a surrogate mother has no parental rights over the child born and the child born is legally the child of the prospective parents. in ukraine the start of the introduction of methods of supporting reproductive medicine was given in the eighties of the preceding century. it was kharkiv where the extracorporeal fertilization method was for the first time successfully applied in ukraine, and in 1991 a girl named katy was born. kharkiv was also the first city in the former soviet union to realize surrogacy. many clinics dealing with surrogacy have been opened in kyiv. and lviv. ukrainian surrogacy laws are very favorable and fully support the individual's reproductive rights. surrogacy is officially regulated by clause 123 of the family code of ukraine and the order of the ministry of health of ukraine "on approval of the application of assisted reproductive technologies in ukraine" from 09.09.2013 no. 787. you can choose between gestational surrogacy, egg/sperm donation, special embryo adoption programs and their combinations. no specific permission from any regulatory body is required for that. a written informed consent of all parties (intended parents and surrogate) participating in the surrogacy program is mandatory. the intended mother has to demonstrate that there is, in fact, a medical reason that makes impossible for her to get pregnant, either because there is a risk for her or for the baby. however, ukraine does not support surrogacy for family models different from the heterosexual one, leaving apart single parent families, lesbian couples, etc. ukrainian legislation allows intended parents to carry on a surrogacy program and their names will be on the birth certificate of the child born as a result of the surrogacy program from the very beginning. the child is considered to be legally "belonging" to the prospective parents from the very moment of conception. the surrogate's name is never listed on the birth certificate. the surrogate can't keep the child after the birth. even if a donation program took place and there is no biological relation between the child and the intended mother, their names will be on the birth certificate (clause 3 of article 123 of the family code of ukraine). embryo research is also allowed, gamete and embryo donation permitted on a commercial level. single women can be treated by known or anonymous donor insemination. gestational surrogacy is an option for officially married couples only (a man and a woman) if they are able to prove they cannot carry a baby themselves for medical reasons and at least one parent must have a genetic link to the newborn baby. surrogacy in ukraine is not regulated in law as commercial, it is more close to altruistic, as the so-called "payment" is not performed to the surrogate mother, it is called a compensation and is not under obligation to pay taxes. united kingdom altruistic surrogacy is legal in the united kingdom, however, commercial surrogacy arrangements are not: as they are prohibited by section 2 of the surrogacy arrangements act 1985. additionally, advertisement was made a criminal offense under section 3 of the surrogacy arrangement act, however, the human fertilisation and embryology act 2008 adds an exception, allowing non-profit agency to advertise. whilst it is illegal in the uk to pay more than reasonable expenses for a surrogacy, the relationship is recognised under section 30 of the human fertilisation and embryology act 1990. however, in the case of parental orders applied for as a result of international surrogacy arrangements, the court has retroactively authorised payment for commercial arrangements when it is in the child's best interest, see re l (a minor) e.w.h.c. 3146 (fam), j v g e.w.h.c. 1432 (fam), re x and y (parental order: retrospective authorisation of payments) e.w.h.c. 3147 (fam) and re c (parental order) e.w.h.c. 2413 (fam). ‘it will only be in the clearest case of the abuse of public policy that the court will be able to withhold an order if otherwise welfare considerations support its making.’ regardless of contractual or financial consideration for expenses, surrogacy arrangements are not legally enforceable under section 1a of the surrogacy arrangements act; therefore, a surrogate mother maintains the legal right of determination for the child, even if they are genetically unrelated. unless a parental order or adoption order is made, the surrogate mother remains the legal mother of the child. this is because under section 33 of the human fertilisation and embryology act 2008 (hfea 2008) ‘mother’ is the women who has, or is carrying the child. additionally, if the surrogate is married, under section 42 hfea 2008 their partner becomes the other legal parent, unless it can be shown they did not consent to the surrogate's insemination. parental orders legal parenthood through a parental order can be obtained under section 54 hfea 2008, for two applicants, and section 54a hfea 2008, for single applicants. in order to meet the criteria under section 54 hfea 2008, an application must be made by two people in an enduring family relationship, and one of their gametes were used in the insemination, subject to section 54(1) and section 54(2). in x (a child: foreign surrogacy) e.w.f.c. 15 the couple openly acknowledged they were in a “sham marriage” however, this was unproblematic under section 54: as the court still considered them to be in a lasting relationship. under section 54(3) the application must be made no later than 6 months after the child's birth. under section 54(4)(a) and 54(4)(b) at the time of the application the child must be living with the applicants, at least one of which is domiciled in the uk. both applicants when applying must be over the age of 18, as required by section 54(5). the surrogate and any other individual with parental rights must give their full and informed consent to the parental order, as required under section 54(6)(a) and 54(6)(b) unless, under section 54(7) they lack the capacity to consent. moreover, under section 54(8) the court must be satisfied the no payment has been given, other than reasonable expenses, unless authorised by the court. under section 54a hfea 2008, the requirements are the same as under 54, except 54a(1) allows for one applicant, provided the child was not carried by them and their gametes were used in the insemination. best interest of the child in the first uk surrogacy case re c (a minor) (wardship: surrogacy) (baby cotton case) f.l.r. 846. latey j stated, ‘morals and ethics are irrelevant, what matters is what is in the child’s best interest.’ when considering if a parental order should be granted the primary consideration of the court is child welfare, pursuant to the human fertilisation and embryology (parental orders) (consequential, transitional and savings provision) order 2010, which imports the provisions of section 1 of the adoption and children act 2002 into section 54 of the hfea 2008. the primacy of child welfare has resulted in a more flexible application of section 54(3), to accommodate the child's best interest. in re re x (a child) (surrogacy: time limit) e.w.h.c. 3135 (fam) munby p states, excluding parental orders made even a day late is ‘…the very antithesis of sensible; it is almost nonsensical.” munby p states this is because of the large impact on, not just the applicants, but ‘…the innocent child, whose welfare is the courts paramount concern.’ this flexible approach was followed in kb & rj v rt (rev 1) e.w.h.c. 760 (fam) where a parental order was granted to a two-year-old child. united states surrogacy and its attendant legal issues fall under state jurisdiction and the legal situation for surrogacy varies greatly from state to state. some states have written legislation, while others have developed common law regimes for dealing with surrogacy issues. some states facilitate surrogacy and surrogacy contracts, others simply refuse to enforce them, and some penalize commercial surrogacy. surrogacy friendly states tend to enforce both commercial and altruistic surrogacy contracts and facilitate straightforward ways for the intended parents to be recognized as the child's legal parents. some relatively surrogacy friendly states only offer support for married heterosexual couples. generally, only gestational surrogacy is supported and traditional surrogacy finds little to no legal support. states generally considered to be surrogacy friendly include california, illinois, arkansas, maryland, washington d.c., oregon, and new hampshire among others. both new jersey and washington state commercial surrogacy laws became effective from 1/1/2019.