But only nine miles. located at a distance of more than From Irpin, a suburb that has been the target of a Russian attack, it’s still far from safe—making it difficult for new parents to collect babies in countries like Canada, Italy, and China.
On Monday morning, a 30-year-old surrogate arrived at the makeshift clinic with the baby she had given birth in the hospital a week earlier. She couldn’t hold back her tears as she handed the baby over to Laurence to the staff.
“It’s even more difficult to be in a place where there is shelling,” said the surrogate, who only wanted to use her maiden name, Victoria. “And when will his parents take him because of it? It’s really hard.”
Victoria was transferred from the maternity hospital to the surrogacy center in a van by a center staff member. He said crews walked across the city at speeds of about 100 mph to try to reduce the chance of being hit by missiles. As Victoria entered the building carrying the baby, she said she could hear Ukraine’s anti-aircraft fire from afar.
were once inside the basement Three loud explosions, one of which shot down an incoming Russian cruise missile less than a mile away. Surveillance footage posted on social media showed a man walking on a nearby road when the intercepted missile fell. No one is expected to be killed in this explosion.
‘He waited 20 years for his child’
Baby Lawrence’s biological parents, who provide both the sperm and egg for the pregnancy, live abroad. But it is not clear when they will be able to have their son.
“They say they’re coming,” said Victoria. “(But) it’s very tough with the paperwork at the moment. How much (long) it’s going to be, no one can tell.”
Victoria said she kept Lawrence’s parents updated “until the last minute” before handing the baby over to the surrogacy centre. “And hopefully we’ll keep in touch, because (the situation is very difficult).”
Ihor Pechenoga, the doctor who helped run the surrogacy center, said women are paid between $17,500 and $25,000 for being a surrogate.
Victoria wanted to put money towards a house deposit for her family, which she has struggled to save since giving birth to their daughter at the age of 17. He said his 13-year-old daughter moved from Ukraine to Bulgaria when the war broke out.
But after being hospitalized during most of her pregnancy with Lawrence due to pregnancy complications – and after facing what she describes as the trauma of leaving the baby she feels now bonded – Victoria said she would never do it again.
BioTexcom has halted the program because of the war, which is currently focused on supporting pregnant women and getting newborns out of the country safely. While the clinic may try to move babies to safer areas in the west of Ukraine, new parents still have to raise babies inside the country for legal reasons – and some are afraid to cross the border.
“It all depends on the strength of the will of the parents,” said Pechenoga, 51. “I met parents who had come to Kyiv to pick up their child; they had tears in their eyes. They had waited 20 years for their child, (so) of course they came, no matter what.”
But there are also couples who are afraid, because there is a war going on here, and there is a serious war,” he said.
Six nannies are working in the clinic to feed and take care of the 21 children. They become concerned about the progress of the conflict, as the bombs get closer to the building. Antonina Yefimovich, 37, said children could feel the fear and anxiety in the room.
But the nannies refuse the opportunity to leave Kyiv, as they do not want to leave the children.
“I will go, (because) I also have my own family. But we have no one to leave these children,” said Yefimovich.
Yefimovich’s mother, husband and two daughters have already fled the city and are now more than 120 miles away Far flung.
“Of course, I’m worried about them,” she said. “But I feel better because at least I have my mother and husband. They will take care of the kids.”
These kids “can’t be abandoned,” she continued. “They are defenseless. They need care too. And we really hope the parents will come and pick them up soon.”