Stranded by coronavirus, Ukraine surrogate babies await parents

Over 100 babies born to surrogate mothers are stranded in Ukraine due to COVID-19 lockdown

Published: May 16, 2020 12:21 Balaram Menon, Digital Content Editor, with inputs from agencies

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Ukraine's human rights ombudswoman has appealed to authorities to find a solution for scores of infants born to surrogate mothers for foreign parents who are stranded because the country's borders are closed under coronavirus restrictions. | Above: A nurse and newborns are seen in the Hotel Venice owned by BioTexCom clinic in Kiev. Image Credit: REUTERS

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Ukraine has a thriving surrogate industry and is one of the few countries that allows the service for foreigners. Concern is high that a long border closure will place a burden on clinics and distress the parents. | Above: A nurse cares for newborn babies at Kiev's Venice hotel. Image Credit: AFP

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"About 100 children are already waiting for their parents in different centers of reproductive medicine. And if quarantine is extended, then it will not be about hundreds, but about thousands," said ombudswoman Lyudmila Denisova. | Above: Nurses care for newborn babies at Kiev's Venice hotel. Image Credit: AFP

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The issue attracted wide attention after Biotexcom, the country's largest surrogate operation, posted a video showing dozens of babies in bassinets arrayed in tight rows in two large rooms of the hotel where the clinic puts up clients. The video aims to reassure absent parent that their little ones are receiving good care, showing nurses bathing and caressing them. Image Credit: REUTERS

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Denisova said there are 51 babies in all at Biotexcom, 15 of them under the care of parents who were able to make it into the country before the shutdown but can't leave. Ukraine's restrictions are to remain in place until at least May 22. Image Credit: AFP

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Denisova said the clinic appealed to Ukraine's foreign ministry to facilitate the arrival of babies' parents but the issue has not yet been resolved. Image Credit: AFP

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The parents are from 12 countries: China, the United States, Italy, Spain, Britain, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, Austria, Mexico and Portugal. Image Credit: AFP

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About 50 clinics that offer surrogate births operate in Ukraine. The country's economic struggles drive many Ukrainian women to become surrogate mothers. Image Credit: REUTERS

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Commercial surrogacy is illegal in most European countries but permitted in Ukraine. One of the poorest European countries, Ukraine, which borders the EU and Russia, is an increasingly popular destination for foreigners looking for surrogate mothers. Image Credit: REUTERS

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Founder of the surrogacy clinic BioTexCom Albert Tochilovsky poses at the clinic-owned Hotel Venice in Kiev. Image Credit: REUTERS

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A nurse takes care of babies born to surrogate mothers in a large room of the hotel where the Biotexcom clinic, puts up clients, in Kiev. Image Credit: AP

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Rafa Aires from Spain, the father of newborn Marta who is unable to collect his daughter, in the Hotel Venice owned by BioTexCom clinic in Kiev. Image Credit: REUTERS

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Nurses takes care of babies born to surrogate mothers for foreign parents in a large room of the hotel where the Biotexcom clinic, the country’s largest surrogate operation, puts up clients, in Kiev. Image Credit: AP

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