Israel’s Justice Ministry has banned Israeli citizens from engaging in surrogacy procedures in the Turkish-occupied north, warning them of sanctions.
There is a similar ban on the same procedure in Albania and Kenya.
The Unit for Combating Human Trafficking, Prostitution and Polygamy, part of the ministry, said the ban was imposed “because there are valid indications that in these areas, surrogate mothers are subjected to sexual exploitation and prostitution before and during pregnancy.”
In particular, the Israeli Ministry of Justice, referring to the surrogacy procedure in the north, said there are “legislative loopholes as to the legality of the procedure, which endanger the individual rights and human dignity of surrogate mothers.”
“Following an investigation, it was established that, in addition to the conditions of ill-treatment of surrogate mothers, there is an inherent difficulty in verifying the genetic material between the child, the surrogate mother and the future parents, which will prevent not only the registration of the child in the Israeli registry and the acquisition of Israeli citizenship but also the entry of the newborn into Israeli territory”.
It is believed criminal organisations are involved in surrogacy procedures in the north and in Albania and Kenya, which keep foreign women isolated and against their will from their families and exploit them both as prostitutes and as surrogate mothers in exchange for money.
The coordinator of Israel’s Unit for Combating Trafficking, attorney Dina Dominitz, told the Israeli state channel: “The reason that made it necessary to ban the surrogacy procedure in the two countries, Albania and Kenya, and in the specific region of Cyprus is based on the need to prevent any harm to those involved in any way in this complicated and yet sensitive process of surrogacy, surrogate mothers, parents-to-be and of course babies born under conditions of dubious legality.”
“This ban is intended to protect Israeli citizens from the very serious legal complications they will face.
“It also derives from Israel’s commitment to international legality to fight international crime, particularly trafficking, within the framework of international legal assistance and existing international conventions”.
According to CNA, in the last five years, at least three private companies operating in Israel have been placing paid advertisements on various social media networks in Hebrew, urging Israeli couples, both heterosexual and homosexual, to undergo the surrogacy procedure in the north.
They claim bureaucratic procedures are shorter and cost less than expenses required for the same procedure in the United States, a popular country for this purpose among the Israeli LGBT+ community.
