Putin’s hidden cost of war.. my last hope of becoming a mum
EXCLUSIVE
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A UKRAINIAN who fled to Britain is battling to save her dream of having an IVF baby after her last embryo was trapped in her war-torn homeland.
Refugee Iryna Litvinova, 37, fears Russia’s invasion has robbed her of her final chance to be a mum.
When her house in Kharkiv was bombed in March, Iryna managed to send her remaining embryo to a clinic in the capital Kyiv and fled the country – leaving husband Sergey, 36, behind.
But despite having found a safe haven in the UK, she has now been told it is impossible to retrieve the viable frozen embryo.
Now, Iryna is crowdfunding to try to raise £5,000 towards her last chance of becoming a mother – by transporting Sergey’s sperm 1,500 miles and having fertility treatment here.
She said: “Putin’s war is not just about killing and physical destruction.
“He is also destroying hopes and plans. All the time this war rages, my chances of motherhood are diminishing.”
Iryna, who suffers from low levels of oestrogen and progesterone, had been having IVF treatment in Kharkiv – which has been bombed mercilessly by Russia since the start of the war in February.
Impossible
She got pregnant in 2016 at a cost of £2,500 but had a stillbirth at 35 weeks.
The couple funded two more unsuccessful IVF attempts in 2017 and 2019, and had one viable frozen embryo remaining in storage when Russia invaded.
The embryo was taken to Kyiv in the hope of being sent on to the UK but now Iryna has discovered it’s near impossible to transport it to Britain.
The former accountant said: “The clinic in Ukraine has said because of the war there are staffing issues and there aren’t the correct protocols in place to allow the release of the genetic material. Now the plan is for Sergey to go to a clinic which has the right licence to transport sperm and find a specialist courier that can get it to the UK.”
Iryna, who found a safe haven in Kent in April with British refugee host Amy Maynard, has no way of knowing when she will be reunited with Sergey.
The couple, who married in 2011, realise the frozen sperm plan could be their final chance of having a baby.
“The decision to leave Sergey was one of the most difficult I’ve ever had to make,” Iryna said.
Hard
“But the war was already knocking on our door. Our apartment was damaged by bombing and then we heard about the Bucha massacre.
“My husband said to me, ‘I can’t protect you here. If I have to join the army, I’ll be calmer if you’re safe’.” Sergey has moved to the relative safety of the city of Dnipro, where he is trying to manage a car rental business – his job before the war. However, fuel is hard to come by and money is tight.
The couple’s torment comes after their terrible heartbreak when their daughter was stillborn. Iryna said: “We cried together but I felt guilty, that it was my fault. I never got to see or hold my baby, and part of me died that day.”
Iryna has slowly started to piece her life back together, taking English lessons and learning the UK tax system so she can get an accountancy job.
And she has found the strength to embark on IVF again.
She says: “Even though Sergey is not here, I’ve realised IVF is a thread that can give me hope again. It means life.”
Her host Amy, 42, has set up a Go Fund Me campaign to help Iryna.
Speaking from Ukraine, Sergey said: “We have lost so much – our home, our livelihoods. But the thought of having IVF again has given Iryna the strength and hope to continue.”
To help Iryna raise £5,000, visit gofundme.com/f/iryna-andsergeys-ivf-journey
IVF is thread that can give me hope again – it
means life