Ukraine has strict rules governing eligibility for surrogacy. The intended parents must be heterosexual, and have undergone at least four unsuccessful rounds of IVF. Surrogacy costs around $90,000, compared with more than $200,000 in the US.
Julia Osiyevska, the director of Ukrainian surrogacy clinic New Hope, which has Australian clients with babies due in April and May, said the women acting as surrogates were anxious, too. “There are many concerns how they are going to be paid, what other issues might arise,” she said.
Ukraine is also a major provider of donor eggs. While Adam and his wife used their own embryo, many couples fly sperm over to inseminate an egg provided by a Ukrainian donor. “Many people are worried about the safety of their embryos if Kyiv gets bombed,” said Mr Everingham. “Some spend a lot of money on donors over there, they want to make sure those embryos are safe.”
Sarah Bevan is a Sydney-based family lawyer who helps parents with their surrogacy arrangements. “[Clinics] in Kyiv are all in a state of panic – the surrogates, intended parents, everyone,” she says. “Those on the western side are less bothered.”
Some surrogate mothers have moved to neighbouring countries or to Greece, which is also a popular destination for fertility treatment and has clinics run by the same companies as operate in Ukraine. “I know of one case where the surrogate won’t leave the country because of her own family, but then what of course happens in two months time when the baby is born and the intended parents can’t come?” said Ms Bevan.
“A lot of the Ukraine [centres] have connections with Georgian clinics, but there’s a whole host of legal implications that come with that. Because [the contract] is governed by Ukrainian law, if you then move to Georgia, the contract does not apply. The amount of stress for these people on both sides is unfathomable.”
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Ms Bevan worries that intended parents will not be able to get insurance, will not be able to cross the border into Ukraine – at present, flights are still operating – and if they get there, will not be able to leave with their baby. “Even if they go overland into Poland, how do they get any documentation for their baby to cross that border?” she said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was contacted for comment.
Australian parents have been able to pick up their babies during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to special permission to travel from the Australian government.
‘A nightmare’: Parents fear for Australian surrogate babies in Ukraine
Source: Philippines Alive
