Alexander Changli and Anna Tyumentseva secured a case-law by the St. Petersburg City Court in the application of assisted reproduction.

Alexander Changli, partner of Iusland Law Offices, and Anna Tyumentseva, attorney-at-law of Iusland Law Offices, secured a case-law by the St. Petersburg City Court in the application of assisted reproduction. The received decision will help resolve unresolved issues related to surrogacy in the application of genetic donor material.

The Civil registration offices categorically denied our clients to perform state registration of the child, indicating them as father and mother. Potential parents, at the time of performing registration - unmarried, were treated with infertility in one of the clinics of St. Petersburg by the method of in vitro fertilization under the surrogate motherhood program. Biological material for in vitro fertilization was the recipient of the client - the biological father, and female biological material from an anonymous donor, because for medical reasons, using the client's egg has not been possible. Unfortunately, in a famous clinic in St. Petersburg, which potential parents applied to, they were not explained all sorts of legal consequences and established judicial practice.

Despite many difficulties, Alexander and Anna managed to ensure that the decision of the district court granted the client’s request in part: the client is listed as the father, but the client’s mother’s order was denied. The reason for the refusal was the fact that the female egg was the recipient of the donor and the client was not the genetic mother of the child. Our clients at the time of giving consent to the implantation of the embryo were not married.

Not specifying the mother’s child’s birth certificate and recording only the father’s parent significantly violated the rights of the child and could lead to many problems in the future. For others, the child’s lack of a mother could be the reason for various questions about his origin, which in turn would require disclosure of information related to his birth.

After a sufficiently long trial, the city court upheld the complaint and indicated the client as the mother. In justifying its decision, the St. Petersburg City Court indicated that, taking into account the interests of the child, the client’s instructions as a mother «will meet the proper protection of such values, family, motherhood and childhood, guaranteed by Article 38 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation».

Today, thanks to the successful work of our lawyers - Alexander Changli and Anna Tyumentseva - the parents of the child in the Civil registration offices received a new birth certificate, where the child has both his father and mother.