30 babies born to surrogates stranded in Russia

SAINT PETERSBURG: Thirty babies born to surrogate mothers are stranded in Saint Petersburg, an official said on Wednesday, with foreign parents unable to travel to Russia´s second city due to coronavirus restrictions. The children´s rights ombudswoman in the city Anna Mitianina said on her website that the authorities had received calls from several medical facilities caring for children born to surrogate mothers. Most foreign parents are from China and are “not able to pick up their children because of the pandemic”, she said. Mitianina added that she was dealing with the situation personally and had approached the regional governor to help resolve the problem in coordination with the Chinese consul general. Russia closed its borders in March to slow the spread of the coronavirus and has registered the fourth-highest caseload in the world. Surrogacy is legal in the country and has been a lucrative business for many years, but some in Russia are calling for an end to the practice for foreigners.