Dozens of infants born for foreign parents are stranded in Ukraine

Foreign parents are struggling to unite with their surrogate babes due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. With fears that quarantine will not end anytime soon, tensions continue to run high.

Surrogacy is an increasingly common practice amongst Ukrainian woman. Becoming a surrogate mother with BioTexCom, a woman can receive between $15,000 and $17,000 for giving birth to a baby.

With a thriving surrogacy industry, Ukraine is a popular destination for this procedure due to its favourable legal system and a central location within Europe. About 50 surrogacy clinics operate in Ukraine.

A nurse and newborns in Hotel Venice, owned by BioTexCom (May 14, 2020). Image credit: Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Being in the heart of Europe typically attracts foreign parents to Ukrainian surrogate babies, but this stands for nothing with the current coronavirus measures in place making international travel near impossible.

Currently, parents from the USA and various parts of Europe are prevented from collecting their newborn babies. Nurses continue to play the role of a parent until travel restrictions ease.

There are some cases where couples have had to decide which of the two get to visit and collect their newborn from the clinic, knowing a return may not be immediately possible due to travel restrictions and the paperwork that needs completing.

With only technology keeping the new family connected, one can imagine how stressful the situation must be.

Ukrainian politician and Commissioner for Human Rights in Ukraine, Lyudmila Denisova, stated that: “About 100 children are already waiting for their parents in different centres of reproductive medicine. And if quarantine is extended, then it will not be about hundreds, but about thousands”.

Naturally, there are concerns over the extension of border closures placing an even heavier burden on clinics, and causing even more distress to the new parents.

With restrictions set to remain in place until at least May 22 in Ukraine, foreign parents will only be permitted entry into the country if the Ukrainian government receives a request from the relevant embassy.