Month: March 2022

Surrogacy, Ukraine, War

Ukraine’s surrogate mothers trapped between the frontlines

Intended Parents

Source DW

It’s a job you can’t quit: Carrying a child for other people. With the war raging in Ukraine, the country’s large surrogacy industry has unraveled, leaving both surrogate mothers and intended parents in limbo.

Camouflage-patterned sleeping bags, shelves stacked with cans, baby cribs side by side with gas masks. Shortly before the outbreak of the war, Ukraine’s largest surrogacy agency, BioTexCom, published a video on its website — a tour of an air-raid shelter, accompanied by the sound of wailing sirens, where Ukrainian surrogate mothers were supposed to find refuge in the event of war. The message was clear: The pregnant women and the children they carry would be looked after.

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sister surrogate mother, Surrogacy, UK

UK – New mum’s powerful message of hope to infertile women after sister’s surrogacy

Intended Parents

Source Birmingham Mail

A new mum who celebrated her first Mother’s Day thanks to her incredible surrogate sister has a powerful message for infertile women: ‘Never give up hope’. Born without a womb, Laura Knight never thought she would become a mother.

But she was able to share touching photos from a ‘very special’ Mothering Sunday after older sibling Hayley Burton gave birth to her ‘miracle’ baby Noah. The adorable little boy was seen smiling in matching outfits, which read ‘I made a wish’ and ‘it came true’ following the couple’s fertility struggles.

“Lifelong infertility, never knowing and always wanting, yet I celebrated my first Mother’s Day. It was amazing, honestly it was so emotional,” the Rowley Regis mum-of-one told BirminghamLive.

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India, Law, Surrogacy

India’s new surrogacy laws could limit chances for some would-be parents

Intended Parents

Source The National News

Seven months after their only daughter died during the coronavirus pandemic, Indian couple Sabu Thomas and Jean George were hoping to fill a void through surrogacy.

But their dreams of having a child have hit a dead end under India’s new surrogacy laws, aimed at regulating the country’s once booming rent-a-womb industry that earned it the sobriquet of “world’s baby factory”.

Mr Thomas, 52, and Ms George, 47, from Pathanamthitta in southern Kerala state, lost their 20-year-old daughter Nova Sabu in August to brain hemorrhage, caused by what they claim was an adverse reaction to the Covid-19 vaccine.

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New Zealand, Surrogacy

New Zealand – Bill seeks streamlined path through surrogacy process

Intended Parents

Source RNZ.CO.NZ

A new bill in Parliament recognises that the path to being a parent is not always straightforward, especially if you’re becoming one via a surrogacy arrangement.

A child born in surrogacy generally happens one of two ways:

Through a traditional surrogate, where the woman carrying the baby has been artificially inseminated with the sperm of a father who is one of the intending parents, or donor sperm.

Or it happens via a gestational surrogate where IVF makes it possible to gather eggs from the mother (or an egg donor), fertilise them with sperm from the father (or a sperm donor), and place the embryo into the uterus of a woman who is the gestational surrogate.

If that sounds a bit complicated, it actually gets more complicated, and this is the reason why a Member’s Bill from Labour MP Tamati Coffey – the Improving Surrogacy Arrangements Bill – is currently before Parliament.

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Surrogacy, Surrogate Mother, Ukraine, War

Ukraine war: Couple’s bid to make safe home for surrogate mother

Intended Parents

Source BBC

Heather Easton (right) has built a close friendship with Vita Lysenko

A couple are trying to give the Ukrainian surrogate mother of their baby a safe home in the UK.

Heather and Mark Easton, from Rugby, Warwickshire, returned from Kyiv with baby Sophie two weeks before Russia invaded the country.

They have found a sponsor for Vita Lysenko and her family who fled to Belgium last week.

But the family do not have passports and have found getting visas “extremely difficult”, Mrs Easton said.

After having a hysterectomy Mrs Easton decided to use a surrogate to have a child.

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Ireland, Law, Surrogacy, Ukraine, War

Irish surrogacy in Ukraine: What does the Russian invasion mean?

Intended Parents

Source News Talk

Mary Seery-Kearney says the woman who gives birth to the child remains the child’s legal mother

Author Jack Quaan

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has not changed the legal status of surrogate children born to Irish parents.

That’s according to Fine Gael Senator Mary Seery-Kearney – who says regardless of where a child is born, the mother who gives birth to the child remains the child’s legal mother.

It comes amid concerns whether some surrogacy contracts may have been changed if surrogate mothers were to give birth outside of Ukraine.

“The agreement was based on an agreement that is recognised in Ukrainian law, and subject to Ukrainian law, and based on the baby being born in Ukraine.

“When the couple would come home to Ireland, they have to apply to the court in order to get the parental order for the father – because we don’t have surrogacy legislation in Ireland

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Surrogacy

Egg freezing, IVF and surrogacy: Fertility benefits have evolved to become the ultimate workplace perk

Intended Parents

Source CNBC

Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty Images

KEY POINTS

Employees are increasingly enjoying a full suite of fertility benefits as companies look for new ways to attract top talent and boost their DEI credentials.

As of 2020, more than two-fifths (42%) of large U.S. employers offered coverage for IVF treatment, while almost one-fifth (19%) offered egg freezing.

With the pandemic having shifted individual priorities and boosted employee leverage, more companies are introducing the benefit to remain competitive.

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Born Through Surrogacy, Surrogacy, UK

UK – ‘We were born through surrogacy and couldn’t be happier. If it’s done openly and honestly, it’s wonderful’

Intended Parents

Source INEWS

Whenever Georgina Roberts thinks about her surrogate, she feels gratitude for the selflessness of the woman who gave birth to her,

“I know my surrogate did what she did from a place of kindness and compassion for another human being,” says Georgina. “That is very important to me and it is lovely to know I am genetically linked to someone who has done the most amazing thing for someone else.”

Georgina, now 23, was brought up in the Midlands and had a very happy childhood with her mum and dad Jerry and Jennie. But she has always known she was born through surrogacy to Suzanne who her parents affectionately referred to as her “tum mum” when she was younger.

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Surrogacy, War

International surrogacy law: existing conflicts unresolved

Intended Parents

Source Bio News UK

The current conflict in Ukraine has drawn into sharp focus the myriad of problems that international surrogacy can throw up. Very little looks certain for the children, surrogates, and intended parents affected by the conflict in Ukraine, other than the fact that difficult practical and legal questions will hang over these families for months and years to come.

Differences between jurisdictions in the laws surrounding surrogacy arrangements have caused problems for families for years, as the recent international surrogacy law case of Re X,Y and Z (Children: Parental Orders: Time Limit) [2022] demonstrates. The case, which straddled multiple jurisdictions – California and Oregon in the USA, Denmark, and the UK – clearly highlights the ongoing vulnerability of surrogate-born children with questions over their legal parentage. It also brings into close focus the need for law reform to stop more surrogate born children and their intended parents falling victim to complex international conflicts of law.

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Ukraine, War

How Russia’s invasion is affecting Ukraine’s surrogacy industry, leaving intended families ‘desperate for assistance’

Intended Parents

Source Yahoo.com

Russia’s attack on Ukraine is affecting the thriving surrogacy industry there, leaving intended parents in the U.S. and other countries in limbo. (Photo: Getty Images)

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is creating ripple effects felt around the globe, from soaring gas prices to fears of a potential nuclear war. But a less-obvious industry being affected by the war is surrogacy — a thriving business in Ukraine.

That’s never been more apparent as headline after headline shows couples from the U.S. and other countries fleeing Ukraine with their newborn babies. Dr. Jessie Boeckmann, an ophthalmologist in Costa Mesa, Calif., and her husband Jacob shared on Instagram that they escaped with their 4-day old baby, born from a Ukrainian surrogate, enduring a 27-hour taxi ride by a kind driver and eventually having to walk seven miles to reach the Ukrainian-Polish border. (Boeckmann did not respond to Yahoo Life’s interview request.)

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Surrogacy, Ukraine, War

‘Will the babies be left in a war zone?’ The terrified Ukrainian surrogates – and the parents waiting for their children

Intended Parents

Source The Guardian

Since Russian tanks began rolling over the Ukrainian border, the international media have reported on the plight of foreign couples using paid Ukrainian surrogate mothers. Usually, these articles make scant reference to the surrogates’ wellbeing, instead being written up as breathless tales of derring-do, as plucky couples launch daring raids to bring their babies to safety.

The Irish Independent, for example, reported on a County Kerry couple who had brought their son back from Ukraine without making any reference to their surrogate, presumably left postpartum in a war zone. Sometimes, the couples appear indifferent to the plight of the women left behind: one American parent recently wrote a 1,257-word Instagram post about getting her newborn out of Ukraine in which she thanked her gym for keeping her “fit enough” to make the journey and the travel agent who had arranged her hotel, but did not make any reference to the woman who had carried her baby.

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Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, UK

UK – Surrogacy: the current law and proposals for reform

Intended Parents

Source Family Law

The number of people choosing surrogacy as a way to parenthood is increasing. Whilst it is difficult to know exactly how many surrogacy cases there have been in recent years, the number of applications for parental orders, which is the order required to recognise intended parents as a child’s legal parents, is growing. With this growth have come calls for reform to surrogacy laws, which many say are outdated and do not reflect current attitudes and lifestyles.

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Surrogacy, Ukraine, War

After dramatic rescue mission, Chicago couple meets premature twins born via surrogacy in Ukraine

Intended Parents

Source ABC Chicago

Twin Ukrainian boys who were born via surrogacy shortly after Russia began its attack in the country have been safely evacuated to Poland.

The twins’ father, Alexander Spektor, who lives in Chicago with the boys’ mother, Irma Nuñez, was able to meet his sons for the first time after their rescue Monday. The boys were born 10 days premature on Feb. 25.

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Surrogacy, UK

UK – Aunt gives birth to niece’s baby after volunteering to be her surrogate

Intended Parents

Source Mirror

Bethan Williams (left) who was a surrogate for niece Shelley Badea (right) with baby Joanie ( Image: Lynne Casey/WALES NEWS SERVICE

An aunt is mum to her own niece’s baby…after volunteering to be her surrogate.

Loving aunt Bethan Williams stepped in when niece Shelley Badea, 33, was desperate to become a mum but could not carry her own child.

And Bethan, 38, helped make her dreams of a baby come true – by giving birth to her own great-niece.

Mum-of-two Bethan has now given birth to little Joanie Alina Badea after seven years of IVF treatment.

Proud grandmother Lynne Casey, of Caernarfon, North Wales, has now thanked her sister Bethan for her “selfless” act.

She said: “I can’t thank my sister enough for what she has done.

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Ireland, Surrogacy, Ukraine, War

Four Irish babies born to Ukrainian surrogates in Kyiv hospital – Tánaiste

Intended Parents

Source Irish Times

Ukraine is a popular location for Irish couples seeking to have babies via surrogate mothers. Photograph: iStock

There are four Irish babies newly born to surrogate Ukrainian mothers in a maternity hospital in the country’s capital Kyiv, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said.

Mr Varadkar disclosed details about the previously unknown number of babies in Ukraine while making the case against the expulsion of Russia’s ambassador to Ireland Yuriy Filatov.

The Fine Gael leader was speaking about the need to maintain relations with Russia despite growing public and political calls for Mr Filatov’s expulsion over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

“There are four babies in the Ukraine at the moment in a maternity hospital in Kyiv and that hospital could be under Russian occupation within weeks. We need to be able to talk to the Russians,” he told RTÉ’s News at One.

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Surrogacy, Ukraine, War

Premature Twins Born To Surrogate Mother In Ukraine Stranded In War-Torn City

Intended Parents

Source LA Times

Two premature twin babies born from a surrogate have been stuck in Ukraine since the conflict began, as parents Alex Spektor and Irma Nuñez attempt to find ways to keep their children safe. This is a representational image. Christian Bowen/Unsplash.

As the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to escalate into an all-out war, the surrogate baby industry in Ukraine is under attack as the safety of the babies born and the surrogates who give birth to the infants are put into question on Tuesday, March 1.

Alex Spektor and Irma Nuñez, who live in the state of Georgia in the U.S., found themselves worrying for their newborn children after their surrogate in Ukraine gave birth to the babies prematurely at 32 weeks in Kyiv last week, according to Today.

The twin boys, Lenny and Moishe Spektor, are currently being cared for by the surrogate and a pediatrician in Kyiv. However, Spektor and Nuñez are worried for their safety as they look for possible hospitals in the country that has a bomb shelter to ensure the children’s safety, the New York Post reported.

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Surrogacy, UK, Ukraine, War

British couple’s ‘absolute nightmare’ stranded in Ukraine while collecting newborn surrogate twins

Intended Parents

Source Independent

A British couple are stuck in a “living nightmare” after they travelled to Kyiv to collect their surrogate-born twins and found themselves stranded in the middle of a war.

Manisha and Metaish Parmar arrived in Ukraine three weeks ago as the surrogate mother gave birth to the babies they had been waiting for for 13 years.

They are now stranded in an apartment in Kyiv with their newborns and Mr Parmar’s parents amid Russia’s invasion, and run for shelter together in a bunker when the air raid sirens go off.

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Surrogacy

Bill to dramatically upend surrogacy in South Dakota fails in the House of Representatives

Intended Parents

Source Mitchell Republic

PIERRE, S.D. — A bill that would have ended surrogacy in South Dakota as it is currently practiced failed on Thursday, Feb. 17, in a close vote on the floor of the House of Representatives.

The GOP-dominated chamber voted 38-29 in opposition to House Bill 1311, which would have declared null and void any so-called “pre-birth” contracts between prospective parents and a gestational carrier or surrogate.

The vote followed at times stormy rhetoric on the House floor, as bill supporters characterized the practice of surrogacy as tantamount to a violation of human rights.

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Surrogacy, Ukraine, War

Surrogacy has Argentine families stranded due to Ukrainian crisis

Intended Parents

Source Merco Press

At least five Argentine couples who had sought to have children through surrogate Ukrainian mothers are among those currently stranded in the war-torn country, it was reported.

They are also having troubles accessing air-raid shelters.

Ukraine is one of the few countries in the world that allows couples to access surrogacy and thus fulfill the dream of becoming parents. Dozens of Argentines and citizens from other parts of the world travel there every year for that purpose.

“They are telling us to leave Ukrainian territory. It was all very sudden and we have to organize ourselves. The issue is that we do not know how to go about that,” an Argentine mother has been quoted by Télam as saying.

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