BFMTV got acquainted with nurses who in Kyiv, in an underground shelter, take care of babies born to GPA, whose parents cannot take them away due to the ongoing war.
In Ukraine, gestational surrogacy (GGS) is allowed, and is also offered to foreign couples. Surrogacy is the fact that a woman carries a child on behalf of other people, to whom it will be transferred after his birth. But in Ukraine, in order to confirm the citizenship of these babies, the so-called “intended parents” have to travel to the country, which since the beginning of the war is extremely difficult, if not impossible.
BFMTV got to know nurses in the capital Kyiv who take turns caring for children born as a result of surrogacy from the orphanage, whose parents cannot take them.
“We can’t leave them behind”
These nurses feed them, change them and monitor the health of many newborns in the underground rooms of the capital to protect themselves from bombs.
“Who will take care of them while their parents are away, who will help them?” Oksana Martynenko, a nurse, told our antenna. “So we take care of them, we can’t leave them behind. How is it possible that they are so small.
“It is difficult, really very difficult,” said Antonina Efimovich, another of the nurses present. “Before the war, we worked four times less, we had time to rest. Today we try to take a little nap, in shifts,” she explains.
“It is very important to evacuate these children”
European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson on Wednesday called for the evacuation of the babies. “As for the surrogate mothers who are giving birth at the moment, the babies also cannot be retrieved and are in an uncertain situation,” she warned. “Therefore, from my point of view, it is extremely necessary to evacuate these children,” the Swedish commissioner added.
The problem has already arisen in a completely different context. At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the borders were closed for health reasons, which also prevented future parents from coming to Ukraine to pick up their child.
An estimated 2,500 to 3,000 babies are born in Ukraine every year for clients living outside the country, in China, the US and the European Union.
Salome Vincendon, BFMTV journalist