Surrogate families ‘safe’
ALL Irish families who travelled to Ukraine to have surrogate babies are ‘safe’, a Government senator providing support to the parents said last night.
Senator Mary Seery-Kearney said she could not disclose the location of the Irish families, but indicated they are ‘between Ireland and Ukraine as they await the birth of their babies’.
Ms Seery-Kearney told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘Our Irish families are safe. We are working with the families, with the mothers, with the clinics. It’s a big effort to coordinate information to support them, including clinic staff who are concerned for their own families.
‘The effort is all-encompassing. We are not just focusing on the Irish parents. I’m conscious the people at the other end of the phone are concerned for their own safety.’
Ms Seery-Kearney revealed some surrogate mothers remain in Ukraine as the Russian military machine continues its assault.
She said: ‘The situation in Ukraine is moving so quickly, there is an assumption that nowhere is safe.’
It is understood the Polish authorities are also coordinating efforts to help surrogate families. Irish couples due to go to Ukraine for the arrival of their babies have been urged not to travel by the Department of Foreign Affairs. Nine babies are expected to be born to surrogate Irish parents in Ukraine before the end of May.
Asked if any surrogate mothers are considering coming to Ireland following the removal of Ireland’s visa restrictions on Ukrainian citizens, she said: ‘Any Ukrainian citizen is entitled to travel to Ireland but it isn’t the first preference for surrogate mothers. Some of them have family in neighbouring EU countries like Poland. All options are there but each person has to make a decision based on their own circumstances.’
The senator said the conversations she has been having with people in Ukraine as the war rages are ‘surreal’.
‘You catch yourself in conversation and you think it’s incredible you’re talking about people packing bags, saying “make sure you bring documentation” because most children in Ukraine don’t have passports, and making sure they have a bag that has everything they might need because they might never be back to their homes. Then you think of what may happen and it’s just unspeakable,’ she said.