Dozens of babies born to Ukrainian surrogate mothers are trapped in lockdown and unable to join their adoptive parents abroad as the country’s borders remain closed, a prominent Ukrainian lawmaker said Thursday.
Lyudmila Denisova, the Ukrainian parliament’s human rights ombudsman, said in a briefing on Thursday that she is working with the country’s Foreign Ministry to help their parents get permits to enter the country, whose borders are shut due to the coronavirus pandemic.
BioTexCom, a reproduction clinic, said in a video posted online that 46 babies are currently in its care at the Hotel Venice, a facility in Kiev that parents from US, UK, Spain and other countries are hoping to reach so they can take home children born of surrogate mothers.
“We ask other countries to make an exception from their policy and to let their citizens to unite with their children,” BioTexCom lawyer Denis Herman said in the video.
The clinic’s video, which BioTexCom said was an attempt to raise awareness about the matter, has gone viral.
In total, around 100 babies are stranded in reproduction clinics across the country, according to Denisova, who visited the center. If borders in Ukraine remain closed, about 1,000 children could be stranded, she said in a Thursday briefing, citing BioTexCom estimates.
