Babies born to surrogates in Ukraine must be evacuated: EU

A top European Union (EU) official called Wednesday for the evacuation of babies from surrogate mothers in Ukraine as their intended parents cannot travel to Ukraine during the Russian invasion.

Ylva Johansson, the commissioner for internal affairs, also expressed concern for children from surrogate mothers who were later put in orphanages.

She told members of the European parliament that parents in EU member states and the United States had trouble getting their babies out of Ukraine even before the invasion.

"During the pandemic many of those new-born babies have not been picked up, so they have been stuck and are now being taken care of in orphanages," Johansson said.

But she said some orphanages have been emptied during the invasion and it is unknown where the children are.

"Surrogate mothers that gave birth to babies right now, these babies cannot be picked up either and they are a bit in a limbo," the commissioner said.

"From my point of view, there is a huge need of evacuations for these children," she added.

Ukraine is one of the rare countries in the world to allow mothers to carry babies for foreigners as a commercial practice.

Estimates say 2,500 to 3,000 children are born every year in Ukraine for clients outside the country, including in China, the United States and the EU.

The coronavirus pandemic put a spotlight on this growing business sector in Ukraine.

A large clinic in Kyiv aired a video of dozens of babies born from surrogate mothers and whose parents could not come to pick them up because the borders had been closed.