NOT THEIR FAULT

20 Surrogate Babies Trapped in Kyiv Basement

The babies are being cared for by nannies since their parents from Europe, Latin America, and China are prohibited from entering the country to retrieve them.

Around 20 babies born since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are being kept in a makeshift bomb shelter in a deep basement in Kyiv, cared for by nurses and nannies while their parents—from Europe, China, and Latin America—try to retrieve them. The surrogate mothers, who have no maternal rights over the children, have all gone home, according to a report by the Associated Press, which visited the shelter. “Now we are staying here to preserve our and the babies’ lives,” Lyudmilia Yashchenko, a 51-year-old nurse, told the AP. “We are hiding here from the bombing and this horrible misery.” It is unclear what will happen to the children if their surrogate parents are unable to retrieve them or what options are available to get them safely out of the country. Surrogacy is a popular business in Ukraine, which has liberal child birth laws that make it easy for foreign parents to hire Ukrainian surrogates.