The past couple of months have had some concerning stories coming out of Ukraine when it comes to surrogacy. The images, especially, have been shocking. We’ve seen pictures of newborn babies lined up in bassinets, in a crowded hotel room, with a couple of caregivers. The babies have been unable to be united with their parents due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. However, in good news, loosening restrictions over the summer have enabled some parents to make it to their babies.
Of course, to be fair, similar situations have been happening all over the world. A number of babies born by surrogacy in the United States have been separated from their non-United States parents, prevented from making the births due to COVID-19 restrictions. And, in some instances, after the parents were able to make it to the United States, they were unable to return home with their children because of additional COVID-related issues, such as an inability to obtain a passport from passport offices that have essentially shut down.
So is Ukraine just getting especially bad press during distressing times? Or is there a bigger issue?
I had a chance to interview (and record for the podcast I Want To Put A Baby In You) author Jay Nault. Nault and his wife reside in California. However, when they found out they would need to turn to surrogacy in order to have another child and learned of the price tag associated with the process in the United States, they turned to surrogacy in Ukraine.
Nault is in the process of publishing a book on his misadventures to parenthood by way of the Ukraine. He shared some of the more memorable moments with us.
You Have To Be Heterosexual. Married. And Able to Prove It.