Juggling feeds and nappy changes is a learning curve for all first-time parents of twins. But when London couple Amita Chakravorty and Sham Jagpal became mum and dad to Rey and Ryo in July this year, they also had to learn to survive missile and drone attacks, as the boys were born through surrogacy infrom the couple’s London home while the four month olds napped. “People need to realise the lengths people like us will go to have a baby.
“We looked at the UK, Columbia, Mexico – we did our research,” says Sham. Ukraine only accepts married heterosexual couples, or those in a civil partnership, that are medically unable to carry a pregnancy to term. At least one intended parent must be genetically connected to the child – usually the father. If an egg donor is needed, this cannot be the Ukrainian surrogate.
“We were clearly apprehensive because the country was at war,” said Sham. “But the clinic said everything is functioning normally in Kyiv. It was perfectly open for us to continue with the process.”in Ukraine, said that the cost of surrogacy in Ukraine was between £33,000 and £54,000 for a package, including transport to the country, accommodation, surrogate expenses and agency fees.
The agency currently has 15 couples at various stages of their surrogacy journey. Shumskyh says demand increases every month. The company has sought to reassure prospective parents by relocating surrogate mothers to Western cities of Lviv and Ushgorod once they reach 28 weeks of pregnancy. These are far away from the front line and experience fewer attacks. Although surrogates can live in higher-risk eastern regions until then.
Amita and Sham never met their surrogate mother. They missed the birth as the twins arrived unexpectedly almost six weeks prematurely. Because flights to Ukraine are banned, the couple travelled to Poland then by car to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv. The couple spent many sleepless nights sheltering in their AirBnB bathroom when sirens sounded. On more than one occasion they saw explosions in the sky as air defences shot down enemy drones above them.