Surrogacy and IVF

[rubylicious]

Hello, in 2013 i had a partial hysterectomy i had my womb removed with my ovaries left intact.
We have agreed on surrogacy and picked the Ukraine, we filled out all paperwork and got our tests completed all came back good... so fast forward I was told to start the pill for 14 days come off it for 5 days and get a Follicle scan so i would be told what dosage Gonal F I would be required to take, at the scan on my right Ovary one of the follicles was 2.6 cm in size when the consultant in Ukraine reviewed the scan she said i can't start IVF round we we're truly devastated as we we're due to travel to Ukraine later that week.
I was told I would have to start a different pill for 21 days and get scan again on the day I finish the pill, has anyone ever experienced the above if so did the follicles reduce in size ?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated and thank you.

[TwocatsandaPotatoPatch]

Are you sure you are allowed to travel to Ukraine at this time OP?
Can you even get travel insurance? What if you developed OHSS and got ill whilst you were out there? (Or contracted coronavirus).
Are you sure you've researched this sufficiently? Even if your treatment was successful and a surrogate mother became pregnant on your behalf, how can you be sure you will be able to travel to Ukraine to collect the baby and return to the UK with it? Currently there are many babies in Ukraine awaiting collection due to travel restrictions. Things may improve. They may get bad again. I can't help thinking your plans are somewhat reckless in the current pandemic situation.

[TwocatsandaPotatoPatch]

I wonder why you have chosen Ukraine rather than seeking out a UK surrogate mother OP.
I would have very serious concerns about going to Ukraine even without problems related to the coronavirus. I wouldn't trust their healthcare, I wouldn't want to have ovarian stimulation and egg collection there. I also believe, that whilst clinics in the UK are very closely regulated by the HFEA, standards in Ukraine are likely to be much more variable.

"He says other investigations involved allegations of fraud and even a human trafficking inquiry in 2016, after an Italian couple discovered in 2011 that the children they had taken home were not genetically related to them. Kovalchuk was removed from his post last year and believes the investigations into BioTexCom have stalled as a result. He wrote to the ombudsman’s office in May outlining his concerns about the clinic....

Albert Tochilovsky, the owner of BioTexCom, does not deny there were mix-ups with embryos during surrogacy procedures in 2011 that led to the human trafficking investigation.
He blames the error on a lack of experience when the clinic was only a year old, and says: “I don’t think it was only us who used to make mistakes here. If someone starts checking DNA, there will be a lot of scandals.”  

I literally wouldn't trust them to use the correct eggs/sperm.

Then there is the whole issue of crime and McMafia moving into the surrogacy business, which is a huge concern.

And finally the healthcare for the surrogate mother - how do you know the surrogate mother will be as healthy as she or the clinic may claim?

"Even though she was placed in an intensive care unit as a result of complications in the pregnancy, Liudmyla decided to have a second surrogate baby to pay back most of the loan for the flat."

The best way to have a healthy baby, I am sure you know, is through the health of the mother. A previous pregnancy that ended up in ICU should definitely disqualify a woman from being a surrogate mother again, both for her own protection and for the baby, and yes, to protect the commissioning parents.
You would want someone with a good obstetric history and no other health issues, and for them to have the best health care, not just out of your obligation to protect the surrogate mother but also to optimise the health of your baby. And if the baby was born with health problems, you would want good health care to be available for the baby.

I wouldn't expect to get any of that in Ukraine.
It would be much wiser and safer to find a surrogate mother in the UK and best of all you could be assured you weren't exploiting an impoverished woman.


www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/15/the-stranded-babies-of-kyiv-and-the-women-who-give-birth-for-money

[OhHolyJesus]

Firstly, I'm sorry about your medical history which has caused you to be unable to carry your own child, but aside from the travel restrictions continuing and the babies and parents 'trapped' in the Ukraine as they seek official documents that allow them to return to their country if residence, it's known that agencies in Ukraine actively discourage (I don't want to say prevent) direct contact between the commissioning parents and the surrogate mother.

Whereas in the U.K. a relationship is founded before insemination/embryo transfer and any children born can grow up knowing where they came from. Is this something you want to avoid? I'm wondering if you and your partner selected the Ukraine based on cost and the lack of regulation? I can't imagine why you would want to be so far from your baby whilst it is growing, not attend scans and hear the heartbeat etc. Even without COVID there can be flight cancellations and issues about leaving the country.

There is more on Ukraine surrogacy here. I'm sure you've seen this already so none of this is a surprise to you, which makes me all the more shocked at your choice.

Ukraine www.mumsnet.com/Talk/surrogacy/3625927-ukraine

[OhHolyJesus]

Linking to this thread where the last comment has been repeated.

Ukraine www.mumsnet.com/Talk/surrogacy/3625927-ukraine

[OhHolyJesus]

My repeated comment:

In terms of how better regulated the last poster claims it to be, (than in the U.K) some news from Ukraine here, please note the date and how these women came to be known and how they were referred to:

cyprus-mail.com/2020/08/22/ukrainian-surrogates-leave-babies-in-north-amid-covid-confusion/

[Heyyyyhey91]

Hi can you private message me please I have some experiences of new life which is in Georgia and know a few women who have successful stories

[OhHolyJesus]

@Heyyyyhey91 have there been success stories during the global pandemic?

[FannyCann]

Do you mean they successfully bought a baby in Georgia @Heyyyyhey91
How did they arrange travel and export the baby home through the coronavirus restrictions?

[FannyCann]

@Heyyyyhey91 @rubylicious


Here's a "success" story for you. Two babies is success right?
Shame about being stuck in an Airbnb in Ukraine with existing children being looked after by Granny.

Perhaps best to give international surrogacy a miss just now.

www.mamamia.com.au/family-trying-to-get-home-to-australia/

[Emilytheodorakopoulos]

Have a nice day to everyone,

Thank you for accepting your page

[Ylvamoon]

OP, please don't go down the Surrogate route.
I understand your yearning for your own child, but surrogacy is not the answer.