[Regnum] A trial has begun in Vladivostok in a high-profile case involving the sale of newborns to China by a group of doctors. The Frunzensky District Court held its first hearing on September 1.
Eight employees of a private clinic in Vladivostok appeared in court. According to the investigation, the doctors found surrogate mothers for foreign citizens who wanted to have a child.
After the babies were born, they were given false documents and then sent to China. In total, 13 children were sold to the country over the course of two years.
In May, the RT television channel reported that St. Petersburg doctors may have been involved in the sale of babies to China, which was carried out by a private clinic in Primorsky Krai.
According to journalists, Chinese men came to St. Petersburg, where they were examined at the Surrogacy Clinic, and fertilization was performed at the Vasileostrovskaya Reproduction Clinic using forged documents under the guise of infertility treatment. The genetic mothers were women found by the participants in the scheme. Later, all procedures were moved to Vladivostok for unknown reasons.
On May 31, the Primorsky Krai prosecutor's office approved the indictment against eight employees of a private clinic who are accused of selling babies abroad. According to investigators, the doctors earned more than 50 million rubles.