ESTABLISHING A GENETIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A SURROGATE MOTHER AND A CHILD DURING THE RESEARCH OF A HISTOLOGICAL BLOCKS OF THE PLACENTA
- Authors: Kukharenok I.I.1, Konovalenko A.V.1, Tititevskaya A.F.1
-
Affiliations:
- St. Petersburg State Medical Institution "Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination"
- Section: Case reports
- Submitted: 10.12.2024
- Accepted: 22.04.2025
- Published: 28.07.2025
- URL: https://for-medex.ru/jour/article/view/16228
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.17816/fm16228
- ID: 16228
Cite item
Abstract
The relevance of this article is related to the availability of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and the growing demand for this type of medical services, as well as the demand for their provision, taking into account the legal aspect in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
The purpose of this research is to study and apply modern possibilities for establishing a genetic relationship between a surrogate mother and a baby born to her, provided that comparison samples of definite women and newborns, as well as a histological paraffin block with placental tissues from the particular births, are used as the test material.
Paraffin blocks and histological sections of placentas, comparative samples of buccal epithelium and blood were used in the production of the three described situations. Microscopic examination of histological sections was carried out in order to determine parts of the placentas.
To identify the DNA of the mother and child in the provided biological objects, as well as for comparative analysis, molecular genetic research methods were used: extraction and detection of DNA concentration, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in real time, electrophoretic fractionation of PCR products and their analysis.
As a result of the research, the location of the maternal and fetal parts of the placentas in histological blocks was determined, they were labeled; genetic profiles were obtained from blood samples of children and buccal epithelium samples of surrogate mothers, as well as DNA profiles of the placenta’s parts.
The comparative analysis showed that in one of the three cases under consideration, a discrepancy was found between the genetic profile of the child's blood sample and the genotype of the fetal part of the placenta. While in two other cases the identity of similar profiles under study was established.
This research highlights the importance of using placental tissue to avoid erroneous conclusions in establishing kinship with a surrogate mother, allowing the expert to confirm that a definite baby was born to a given surrogate mother in the particular births.
Full Text

About the authors
Irina Igorevna Kukharenok
St. Petersburg State Medical Institution "Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination"
Author for correspondence.
Email: irishka2402@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0009-0007-2645-0025
Russian Federation, 10А Ekaterininskiy, 195067, St. Petersburg, Russia
Andrey Valentinovich Konovalenko
St. Petersburg State Medical Institution "Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination"
Email: andrkon1980@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0009-0002-0306-423X
10А Ekaterininskiy, 195067, St. Petersburg, Russia
Alina Fazilovna Tititevskaya
St. Petersburg State Medical Institution "Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination"
Email: titievskaya.a@mail.ru
10А Ekaterininskiy, 195067, St. Petersburg, Russia
References
- Order of the Ministry of health of the Russian Federation N 107n of 08/30/2012 "On the procedure for the use of assisted reproductive technologies, contraindications and restrictions to their use".
- Federal Law N 323-FZ of 11/21/2011 (as amended on 12/25/2023) "On the basics of protecting the health of citizens in the Russian Federation" (with amendments and additions, intro. Effective from 05.01.2024); article 55 ("Application of assisted reproductive technologies"). Federal Law "On amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation" dated 12/19/2022 no. 538-FZ (latest edition).
- Ding C. (02/01/2015). "Legal proceedings on surrogacy in China and beyond." "Journal of law and biology". 2 (1): 33–55. doi: 10.1093/jlb/lsu036. Pmc 5033554. PMID: 27774179
- Order N 803n of the Ministry of health of the Russian Federation (07/31/2020) "On the procedure for the use of assisted reproductive technologies, contraindications and restrictions to their use".
- Compiled by the authors based on the materials of the sources:
- The Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 vol] / chief editor A.M. Prokhorov.-3rd ed.-M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
- Small medical Encyclopedia.-M.: Medical Encyclopedia. 1991-1996 .
- Placental // Encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 t. (82 t. and 4 add.).-St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
- Taylor D. T30. Biology: in 3 vols. 1 / D. Taylor, N. Green, W. Stout; edited by R. Soper; trans. 3rd English edition-9th ed.- M.: Laboratory of Knowledge, 2017.
Supplementary files
