Legal regulation of surrogacy: International experience, status and prospects for development in Ukraine

The use of assisted reproductive technologies in Ukraine is insufficiently regulated at the legislative level, which necessitates a study of one of the types of assisted reproductive technologies – surrogacy – and the legal basis for the use of this phenomenon in Ukraine. The purpose of this study was to clarify the status and identify the shortcomings of legal regulation of surrogacy under the national legislation of Ukraine, and to investigate the world practices of its development. To fulfil the stated purpose, the study employed general scientific and special methods of scientific cognition, specifically, the formal legal method, the comparative legal method, and the method of functional forecasting. The study focused on the specific features of consolidating the institution of surrogacy in European legislation. The study found no unified international regulation of surrogacy relations, which leads to the existence of different approaches to their regulation in legislation. The study analysed the current state of national legislation on the use of assisted reproductive technologies through surrogacy and highlighted the existing gaps and shortcomings that need to be addressed. It was found that Ukraine lacks comprehensive legal regulation of surrogacy relations, which leads to contradictory opinions on the problem of using this type of assisted reproductive technologies. Based on the study conducted, conclusions were drawn on the need to amend the legislation of Ukraine regarding the use of surrogacy as a type of assisted reproductive technology. An analysis of the regulations of Ukraine suggests the need for a unified legal regulation of the surrogacy process. This analysis of the regulatory framework is of practical significance for further legislative regulation of legal relations in surrogacy matters