When joy turns to anxiety: what the quarantine means to people who use surrogacy services

The journey of our Irish couple continues and today they are sharing their feelings via an inspiring e-mail send to their program coordinator, Svitlana.

“Good Morning Svitlana,
Thank you so much for everything you are doing for us. You are truly amazing and we are very very grateful for all your help. If you have any pictures, videos or updates on our daughter we would desperately love to have them x

Update….

Our journey to Ukraine started on Friday 3rd April when we got a call to say our beautiful little girl had been born. She decided to come into the world 5 and half weeks early.

The news from the clinic was that our amazing surrogate and little girl were both healthy and well.
We were shocked, scared, excited and extremely proud all in one!

Our amazing IP support lady, lawyers and clinic co-ordinators quickly jumped into action to see how we could get to be with our daughter.
After days of emails, phone calls, tears and hope the Irish Government and Irish DOFA were doing all they could to find a solution, along with our lawyers, to fly us to kiev.

With the tireless help and truly grateful thanks to Irish Government and DOFA, Swiss Embassy and Ukraine MFA we set off on our three day journey to Ukraine.

We travelled:

  • Dublin – London
  • London – Frankfurt
  • Frankfurt – Zurich
  • Zurich – Kyiv

We carried a lot of paperwork and permissions from authorities with us through each airport. We were questioned every step of the way but thankfully everything had been put in place and we finally arrived in Ukraine.
Once we landed in Kyiv our temperatures were taken and we agreed to go to an observation facility for 14 days quarantine or until we can be tested for Covid 19.

We did not enter Kyiv airport, instead officials met us on board and escorted us to a bus where we were transported to the observation facility.

The clinic and lawyers had previously arranged our stay here.
We are really impressed with the procedures the Ukraine authorities have in place to protect their citizens and us travelling. It was a scary experience but we understand the severity of this Corona Virus. We, of course, are completely heart broken and really want to see our daughter. She is 2 weeks old today. But for everyones safety, our quarantine is important.
Our apartment here is large and spacious. Meals are delivered to our door three times a day and our temperatures are checked twice a day. The meals are not what we are used to so I would advise you bring some familiar foods with you. We have contact details to phone if we feel unwell or have any concerns or requests.

Our clinic co-ordinator has been amazing in helping us to settle in and to answer the hundreds of questions we have.
This was never how we imagined our final trip to Ukraine. Its devastating to be apart from our long awaited daughter. We get regular updates and photos, and while we are so happy to receive them, its just not the same. We desperately need to be with her.

At the moment, our little girl is being well cared for by all the wonderful nannies in the clinics hotel baby rooms. She is doing great despite being born premature. She is oblivious to all this craziness going on in the world and the worry and stress that her patents are going through!
Our advise to other parents in this situation …. keep trying!

We will never be able to put into words our gratitude to everyone who played a part in getting us here.
The Irish Government and DOFA, Our amazing lawyers both in Ireland and Ukraine, our superhero IP support lady, the Swiss embassy and of course the Ukraine MFA – all without whom we would not be able to see our daughter. They have all worked tirelessly to help. They came together and worked around the clock to make this possible – we will never be able to thank them all enough. They have changed our lives.
We thank our families and friends for every positive wish, good vibes, words of support, prayers and lit candles.

We would advise that anyone travelling bring masks, gloves, sanitiser and your own disinfectant products for use when travelling through airports and hotels. Remember to disinfect everything you come in contact with and everything that is handled by others. We need to protect ourselves and every one else.

Bring food and snacks as a lot of places are closed and your access to these things will be limited.
For now, we wait in quarantine. We hope that we can be Covid tested as soon as possible so that we can care for our beautiful daughter.
If we have any updates throughout the day I will of course share them with you all.
Take Care and be Safe”

Their story is impressive, isn’t it? Stay tuned and get all the updates in real-time

 

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