It's just terrible, the whole situation is appalling @Slothtoes
Copying the latest email from Ukraine Surrogacy Dispatches which gives more detail about surrogate mothers returning to Ukraine to deliver:
In the opening days of the war, many surrogates were moved west to safer cities and villages, or out of the country altogether. But a big question remains: where should the child be born?
There is a lot to consider. From a medical perspective, small villages and towns may not have the level of maternity care that is needed. From a physical safety perspective, larger centres, like Lviv, remain at risk of bombardment. But giving birth outside the country poses its own problems.
One of the reasons Ukraine is a popular choice for surrogacy is its laws, which make it straightforward for intended parents to be legal parents of the children born to surrogates. But that is not the case in neighbouring countries. The surrogacy contract drawn up in Ukraine would not be valid in these countries. Any child born to a surrogate could be considered the surrogate’s legal child.
Below, a snapshot of the new challenges created if the child is born outside Ukraine (in, say, Poland) followed by a brief exploration of how agencies and clinics are increasingly looking to avoid those challenges — by nipping back inside Ukraine for the birth.
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Birth outside Ukraine*
Some two million Ukrainians have fled their country for Poland, and among them are surrogates carrying children for foreigners.
Surrogacy is not legal in Poland — neither commercial nor altruistic. A Ukrainian surrogacy contract would be invalid if the birth takes place in Poland. Polish doctors will treat the pregnant woman as the mother and the newborn as her child; they do not even want to know the identity of the intended parents. Intended parents currently waiting in Poland are sometimes advised by their agencies not to talk about surrogacy at all.
If a child is born in Poland through surrogacy, the child's birth certificate will list the surrogate as the child's mother. It does not matter if the intended mother is the genetic mother of the child.
The intended father, however, can be listed as the child's father. Some intended fathers are being advised to go, in advance of the birth, to the registry office, where they can fill out a special declaration form, so that their name will appear on the birth certificate when it is issued.
That will also mean that the father's surname will be the child's surname on the birth certificate.
However, if the intended father does not speak Polish, he will need an official translator to help fill out the form. The father will have to hire that translator.
Beyond the birth certificate, the child will need a passport to get out of the country. Countries like the UK, the US, Australia and Canada grant citizenship to children born abroad to citizen-parents (with some conditions). Some of those countries, however, require a proven genetic connection to the child.
Australia is one. The country requires a mandatory DNA test to establish that genetic connection before a passport can be issued. As of about a week ago, the test performed in Poland still needed to be sent to Australia for processing. Results then had to be sent back to Poland. Only after the results confirmed genetic parentage could the passport be issued.
Some home countries have been assisting intended parents in the surrogacy process via Poland. But others, especially where surrogacy is not recognized or legal — and a lot of intended parents doing surrogacy in Ukraine come from these countries — have not.
There are questions about the cost of giving birth in Poland. Many intended parents have already paid for the birth in their fee to their Ukrainian agency. If their child is born in Poland, however, the fee will likely not apply.
My understanding is that Ukrainian women crossing into Poland will get free medical care, including maternity care. Still, some intended parents are being given private-pay options at hospitals in places like Warsaw, Katowice, and Bialystok.
(For instance, a vaginal birth could cost a parent around $2,000 USD, a C-section birth around $2,800 USD, and for $4,500 USD, a parent can purchase a "prestige package," which includes choice of doctor, two-room adjoining suites so the parents can be next to the surrogate, and an extended stay, among other things.)
The kinds of problems that arise from a surrogate giving birth in Poland are similar for those who might give birth in neighbouring Moldova, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania.
Which is why agencies and clinics are increasingly considering a previously unthinkable alternative:
Birth outside Ukraine
Some two million Ukrainians have fled their country for Poland, and among them are surrogates carrying children for foreigners.
Surrogacy is not legal in Poland — neither commercial nor altruistic. A Ukrainian surrogacy contract would be invalid if the birth takes place in Poland. Polish doctors will treat the pregnant woman as the mother and the newborn as her child; they do not even want to know the identity of the intended parents. Intended parents currently waiting in Poland are sometimes advised by their agencies not to talk about surrogacy at all.
If a child is born in Poland through surrogacy, the child's birth certificate will list the surrogate as the child's mother. It does not matter if the intended mother is the genetic mother of the child.
The intended father, however, can be listed as the child's father. Some intended fathers are being advised to go, in advance of the birth, to the registry office, where they can fill out a special declaration form, so that their name will appear on the birth certificate when it is issued.
That will also mean that the father's surname will be the child's surname on the birth certificate.
However, if the intended father does not speak Polish, he will need an official translator to help fill out the form. The father will have to hire that translator.
Beyond the birth certificate, the child will need a passport to get out of the country. Countries like the UK, the US, Australia and Canada grant citizenship to children born abroad to citizen-parents (with some conditions). Some of those countries, however, require a proven genetic connection to the child.
Australia is one. The country requires a mandatory DNA test to establish that genetic connection before a passport can be issued. As of about a week ago, the test performed in Poland still needed to be sent to Australia for processing. Results then had to be sent back to Poland. Only after the results confirmed genetic parentage could the passport be issued.
Some home countries have been assisting intended parents in the surrogacy process via Poland. But others, especially where surrogacy is not recognized or legal — and a lot of intended parents doing surrogacy in Ukraine come from these countries — have not.
There are questions about the cost of giving birth in Poland. Many intended parents have already paid for the birth in their fee to their Ukrainian agency. If their child is born in Poland, however, the fee will likely not apply.
My understanding is that Ukrainian women crossing into Poland will get free medical care, including maternity care. Still, some intended parents are being given private-pay options at hospitals in places like Warsaw, Katowice, and Bialystok.
Some surrogates from Odesa, in the south, are being evacuated 60 or so kilometres northwest into Moldova. The plan for some is to travel back into Ukraine for the birth — not back to Odesa, which is near active fighting, but another 60 or so kilometres out a northern border to the Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi.
Other surrogates have taken shelter in Slovakia. One plan for them is to stay in Slovakia until they are ready to give birth, then cross to the Ukrainian city of Uzhorod, just five kilometres from the Slovak border, when it's time. Parents are also being advised that they can try to be present for the birth.
For surrogates who have moved into Poland for safety, some have plans to return to Lviv in Ukraine about two weeks in advance of the birth, or when recommended by doctors, so they can give birth in Ukraine.
To recap... going back into Ukraine to give birth is considered a good option because:
• the original contracts among the parties remain valid
• the intended parents become the legal parents on all documents
• the surrogate does not become a parent
• documentation needed for travel documents can be acquired more straightforwardly
• the cost of birth is covered by the original agreement
• the surrogate can be more confident that she will be paid
The downside is that there’s a war.
(For instance, a vaginal birth could cost a parent around $2,000 USD, a C-section birth around $2,800 USD, and for $4,500 USD, a parent can purchase a "prestige package," which includes choice of doctor, two-room adjoining suites so the parents can be next to the surrogate, and an extended stay, among other things.)
The kinds of problems that arise from a surrogate giving birth in Poland are similar for those who might give birth in neighbouring Moldova, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania.
Which is why agencies and clinics are increasingly considering a previously unthinkable alternative: