Over 100 surrogate babies stranded in Ukraine amid coronavirus lockdown
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The issue attracted wide attention after Biotexcom, the country’s largest surrogate operation, posted a video showing dozens of babies in bassinets arrayed in tight rows in two large rooms of the hotel where the clinic puts up clients.
Over 100 babies born through surrogacy are stranded in Ukraine because the country’s borders are closed under coronavirus restrictions.
The country's human rights ombudswoman has appealed to authorities to find a solution for this problem.
''More than 100 children are already waiting for their parents in different centers of reproductive medicine. And if quarantine is extended, then it will not be about hundreds, but about thousands,'' said ombudswoman Lyudmila Denisova.
She said that 51 newborns were being housed at a Kiev hotel which is owned by one of the clinics in the capital.
Fifteen of these 51 babies were with their parents while the other 36 were in the care of clinic staff.
Denisova said they were due to be collected by parents from countries including the US, France, Italy, Spain, and Germany.
The issue attracted wide attention after Biotexcom, the country’s largest surrogate operation, posted a video showing dozens of babies in bassinets arrayed in tight rows in two large rooms of the hotel where the clinic puts up clients.
Ukraine has a thriving surrogate industry and is one of the few countries that allows the service for foreigners.
The borders of the country were closed in March as a result of the virus outbreak.