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((TITLE: TV SURROGACY IN UKRAINE – Prus
HEAD: Despite war, surrogacy in Ukraine keeps flourishing
TEASER:
PUBLISHED: 06/хх/2024
BYLINE: Mariia Prus
DATELINE: Washington
CAMERA:
VIDEO EDITOR: Maksym Shulga
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: KEnochs; Decherd
VIDEO FROM: VOA, Agencies, Zoom
COURTESIES NEEDED:
TYPE: VPKGN
TRT: 3:29
VIDEO APPROVER'S INITIALS: KE
Video for reference: https://app.frame.io/player/c7929249-cef8-4220-9ec8-432139d0750b
((Please Return to Anna Rice, and copy to HFR folder please))
UPDATE:
((INTRO:))
[[Before Russia’s invasion, Ukraine was an international surrogacy hub. Relatively low cost and a favorable legal framework led to thousands of babies born every year thanks to Ukrainian surrogate mothers, many of them for overseas parents. Despite the war and the risks – hopeful foreigners keep coming to Ukraine. Mariia Prus has the story.]]
((NARRATION))
((Mandatory courtesy: Gelera Family Archive))
When Russia invaded Ukraine, a couple from California – Candice Nguyen-Gelera and Giovanni Gelera – were expecting their first child, carried for them by a surrogate mother in Ukraine.
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((Giovanni Gelera)) ((Zoom)) ((ENG))
“It was very shocking, it was surreal, we were just, you know, thinking – maybe they [[Russians]] were just trying to scare people?”
((NARRATION))
((Mandatory courtesy: Gelera Family Archive))
Their son was born safely in May 2022, and to bring him home, the Gerelas had to travel to the war-torn country.
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((Giovanni Gelera)) ((Zoom)) ((ENG))
“The emotions really, truly poured in once we got into the safe house, on the first night with the baby… And it was just like, you know, knowing that our boy had had to go through so much…”
((NARRATION))
((Mandatory courtesy: Gelera Family Archive))
For many years, Ukraine has been one of the primary destinations for couples who couldn’t successfully conceive or carry their
((End courtesy))
((Mandatory courtesy: Adonis International))
own biological children. Laws adopted in Ukraine in 2013,
((End courtesy))
((Mandatory courtesy: Gelera Family Archive))
allow surrogate reproductive services to be obtained by a Ukrainian or foreign
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((Mandatory courtesy: Adonis International))
heterosexual couple, officially married but infertile. Those relatively simple laws turned Ukraine into a surrogacy hub.
((End courtesy))
((Giovanni Gelera)) ((Zoom)) ((ENG))
“Before that all happened, we did know that Ukraine had a very gold standard as far as surrogacy…”
((NARRATION))
((Mandatory courtesy: Adonis International))
To qualify and become a surrogate mother, the rules are simple:
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a woman needs to be between 25-35 years old and have a healthy child of her own. The surrogate mother must not have any genetic connection to the child she is
((Mandatory courtesy: Gelera Family Archive))
carrying – the embryo’s genetic material should be that of at least one member of the couple needing surrogate services, and the child’s biological parents are his/her legal guardians from the moment of conception.
Today, despite the ongoing war, surrogacy services remain popular among foreigners,
((End courtesy))
((Mandatory courtesy: Adonis International))
says Maria Feekes, head of the North American branch of a Ukrainian fertility clinic Adonis.
((End courtesy))
((Maria Feekes, Adonis Fertility International)) ((ENG))
“I'm not including the egg donation programs and others that have been not in connection to surrogacy. In 2023, it was 107 babies. And, you know, many more pregnancies are happening and going on…”
((NARRATION))
((Mandatory courtesy: Adonis International))
To protect surrogate mothers and babies, the agency has introduced a strict set of rules for potential surrogate candidates, and Feekes says, many women return to carry more babies.
((End courtesy))
((Mandatory courtesy: Gelera Family Archive))
Among them, the woman who carried the Geleras first child; last year she offered to carry their second baby.
((End courtesy))
((Giovanni Gelera)) ((ENG))
“So, we did it, and it was actually a great experience the second time around!”
((NARRATION))
This 26-year-old Dnipro resident, who asked to remain anonymous, also served as a surrogate mother twice, with her second surrogate pregnancy for an American couple happening in late 2022, some 8 months after the start of Russia’s invasion. She said that pregnancy was harder.
((Ukrainian Surrogate Mother)) ((UKR))
“Explosions… yes, it was difficult at times, but I made a very important decision, I asked // myself – can I do anything about what’s happening? Can I change anything? And the answer was no. So, I just tried not to take it too close to heart and tried to be as calm as possible…”
((NARRATION))
((Mandatory courtesy: Adonis International))
Feekes says the start of the war caused a decline in the number of foreign couples looking for surrogacy in Ukraine, but today, 2.5 years later, business is pretty much back to normal.
((Mariia Prus, VOA News, Washington))
((End courtesy))
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