Larisa 28, six months ago, she made and gave birth to a child for the childless couple from Austria: «Of course, first to decide on such a step was not easy. But physical problems at all zaeli: we live together with parents, husband and two children in the small «hruschevke».

According to statistics, over a million couples in Ukraine cannot have children. Unofficial data, considered by doctors to be more realistic, are even sadder: one in five married couples in our country is infertile. This is mainly caused by poor environmental conditions, congenital diseases, and an unhealthy lifestyle. But a doctor’s diagnosis does not mean that a child’s merry laugh will never be heard in a couple’s home. Today, modern fertility methods can help solve most complicated problems linked to childbirth and achieve results that only a few decades ago were considered nothing short of a miracle. Surrogate maternity is one of them.

Even as its own population is declining partly because women are unable or unwilling to have enough babies, Ukraine is becoming known internationally as a mecca of surrogate mothers he mecca of surrogate mothers. Besides the satisfaction of helping infertile and other couples achieve the miracle of birth, Ukrainian women say they are attracted by the considerable financial rewards. But risks also come with rewards in these largely unregulated transactions and Ukrainian law offers little protection for either side.