Questions intended parents are asking
Intended parents have questions. The following are slightly edited versions of questions I've heard this past week on Zoom calls, in seminars, online and through agencies helping intended parents.
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Can we still get into Ukraine?
Can we still come to Ukraine for the birth if it's in the west?
Can we go in through one border and leave via another less busy one?
How will we find our surrogate after the birth?
How will we find our baby after the birth?
How will we get to our baby if it's born in a war zone?
What documents do we need to get the baby out of the country?
Are birth certificates still being issued in Ukraine?
How long is it taking in Lviv to issue medical birth certificates?
Are medical birth certificates the same as official birth certificates?
Are the organizations that do the official birth certificates open?
Are notaries open?
Do we still need to prove we have a genetic connection?
Do we still need a waiver from the surrogate saying she is not the mother?
Do we still need a PCR test?
Can we just walk out of the country carrying our child?
Can we take the child out of the country without any documentation?
Should we move our surrogate out of the Dnipro region?
Can a surrogate still get out of Odessa?
Is it safe for a surrogate to stay in Poltava?
How can we get safe passage for our surrogate out of Kherson? She wants to leave.
Any news from Kharkhiv — in particular La Vita Nova?
Can the surrogate travel by train or is it too crowded?
How do I find a ride share out of Kyiv?
Can I fly my surrogate to the US?
Wouldn't it be better if the surrogate just left Ukraine?
How do I convince my surrogate to leave?
Can someone help me convince my surrogate to leave?
Will I have to adopt my own baby if it's born outside Ukraine?
If our child is born in Poland or Hungary or one of countries that does not recognize surrogacy, would we have any legal connection to the child at all?
Will it be difficult to adopt, even if we're both tied to the child genetically?
Can my husband's name at least be on the birth certificate if the baby is born outside Ukraine?
Will my husband have custody if he's on the birth certificate in the Czech Republic?
In the Czech Republic will the surrogate mother be listed as the mother?
If the baby is born in the Czech Republic, when I get back home will I have to get lawyers involved?
Our surrogate is 37 weeks pregnant and we're trying to decide whether to have the baby in Lviv or move her to the Czech Republic. What should we do?
Do the surrogates in Lviv have enough food?
Do they need anything?
Can we help in any way?
Will you help reunite the surrogate with her family after the birth?
Are there any contingencies in place if Putin goes after Lviv?
Do we have to use hard currency there now?
How much money should we take?
What is happening with our embryos?
Are our frozen embryos safe in Kyiv? We have five ready to transfer.
Can I move my embryos to Greece?
Where can I move my embryos so when I do surrogacy I can get my name on the birth certificate?
Is it possible to transport embryos out at this time?
Can we terminate the contract with our surrogate? There has been no transfer yet.
Any idea when transfers will start up again?
Once the conflict is over, do you expect an increase or decrease in the number of available surrogates in Ukraine?
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Ukraine Surrogacy Dispatches is an ad hoc newsletter about what's happening with international surrogacy in Ukraine during an invasion. It will be informed by interviews with surrogates, intended parents, agencies, brokers and other sources. The newsletter will not have a regular publishing schedule, but will come out as information arises. It will end when there's nothing left to say.