The trail was uncovered by Czech outlet Seznam Zprávy leading to one of the centers of the surrogacy industry, Kharkiv, Ukraine, as well as to the Feskov-Human Reproduction Group agency, which has branches in Prague and Kiev. The operator of the clinic, Alexander Feskov, has had to answer for human trafficking there since last year.
Six employees of the baby farm are said to have earned 1,2 million euros from the trade in unborn and newborn babies. Prague, according to criminologists, is a sort of logistical center for the entire business.
Ever since Asian countries banned commercial surrogate motherhood in 2015, exposing the exploitation of the system by foreigners and the abuse by intermediary agencies, the Ukrainian surrogacy industry has been thriving. According to the Medical and Reproductive Law Center in Kiev, in 2019 hundreds of children were born via surrogate motherhood. Ukraine is one of the few countries where surrogate motherhood is legal and commercial.