Orthodox Church slams surrogacy as 'mutiny against God', seeks ...

Published time: October 08, 2013 10:30

RIA Novosti/Pavel Lisitsyn

A representative of the Moscow Patriarchy has blasted surrogacy as “mutiny against God” and “happy fascism,” restarting the controversy after tabloids reports of a celebrity couple who used a surrogate mother to have children.

The comment from the head of the Patriarchy Commission for Family
Motherhood and Childhood, Dmitry Smirnov, arrived after Russian
mass media reported that in September 64-year-old Russian pop
star Alla Pugachova and her 37-year-old husband Maksim Galkin had
two children born through surrogate motherhood.

“I would ban this, of course. We can see that a bad example is
contagious,” the senior church representative was quoted as
saying by Interfax. “This is mutiny against God, this is very
happy fascism with a contract, the money and confiscation of a
child.”

The cleric also reminded that the Russian Orthodox Church
supported a complete ban on surrogate motherhood in Russia and
called on the State Duma to initiate such a move.

The official concept of the Russian Orthodox Church’s social
policy calls surrogate motherhood – the agreement in which a
woman carries and delivers a child for another person or couple –
“unnatural and immoral,” adding that it should not be
allowed even in cases where there is no monetary motivation.

A well-known church-backed politician Vitaly Milonov of the St. Petersburg City
legislature also condemned Pugacheva and Galkin for using
surrogacy.

“I would not congratulate this family with the fact that they
had bought themselves a child, that they have enough money. With
the fact that they could use some woman as an incubator to carry
their child,” Milonov told reporters.

“This is an immoral thing to do in the country that has tens
of thousands of orphans waiting to be adopted. Making oneself a
neat and clean baby is something akin to buying a new model
Ferrari,” said the MP who previously made himself a name as
the main sponsor of the law banning the promotion of
non-traditional sex relations to minors, known in the mass media
as the ‘gay propaganda ban’.

Surrogacy is legal in Russia and according to state news agency
RIA Novosti about 500 children are born in the country through
this procedure every year. Surrogate mothers must be between 20
and 35 years of age, have at least one child of their own and
pass a medical test.  The law guarantees the secrecy
to both parties. Prices for the services vary greatly, but it is
generally considered that in Russia they are up to one tenth than
in Europe and America.

Some other nations, such as Ukraine, South Africa and several
states in the USA also allow commercial surrogacy. The UK,
Australia, Canada, Israel and several other nations only allow
non-commercial surrogacy. Countries like Ireland and Greece have
no laws on the subject, leaving it in a gray area.

Surrogate motherhood is legally banned in Austria, Germany,
France, Norway and Sweden and in several US states, such as
Arizona and Michigan.

Category: American Horror Story   raiders   elizabeth smart   dodgers   miley cyrus snl