# Ukraine Surrogacy - a success story



## Jbasil (Feb 5, 2013)

I have been a member of FF for some time although I have rarely posted but I wanted to share my experience of undertaking surrogacy in the Ukraine. I am delighted to say it was a very successful experience and our gorgeous son was born in October 2014 and we are just about to go home as we have been given an emergency travel document to travel to the UK. We got some invaluable advice through this forum from other people who had previously undertaken surrogacy in the Ukraine so I hope that by sharing our experience it may also help others considering surrogacy.

Once we were told surrogacy or adoption was our only option for a child we decided to try surrogacy abroad as we wanted to get started straight away and we had been told that trying to find a surrogate in the UK can take a long time. Our first choice was the US but after researching we decided that was prohibitively expensive. We couldn't go to India because at the time we hadn't been married for two years so we decided on Ukraine because our research showed it had a good legal framework for surrogacy and it was fairly easy to get to.

After doing lots of research we decided on the Nadiya clinic. We had also researched various agencies and one of our top two were based at the Nadiya clinic so we decided to go with International Agency for Assisted Motherhood. Right from our very first meeting over skype and then a face to face meeting when we flew to Kiev, the IAAM team were always very professional and acted with integrity. Ultimately there is only so much research you can do and you end up putting all your hopes and dreams in the hands of strangers and pray that they are genuine. IAAM were brilliant from start to finish.

IAAM organised all the legal aspects and were very happy to make amendments to the various contracts that our independent Ukrainian lawyers and UK lawyers (AGA Partners in Kiev and Natalie Gamble Associates in UK – both brilliant) suggested. They provided us with the profiles of two potential SMs, both of whom were lovely. The SM we chose was lovely and we never had a moment of doubt after we had chosen her. Our SM fell pregnant on our second attempt. 

Nothing was too much trouble for IAAM, they organised everything so well and were always available to translate over the phone if we ever needed them to which was invaluable the first few days in the maternity hospital. One of the team also visited us everyday whilst we were in hospital to make sure everything was OK.

IAAM were also brilliant when it came to organising all the documents we needed for the passport application and the consent documents for the parental order, they found us somewhere to copy documents, print photos, get documents translated and notarised and they always came with us to make sure we could be understood.

All in all, I would highly recommend both IAAM and the Nadiya clinic. IAAM really were excellent and very trust worthy. When we overpaid them by $10 (because we anticipated the bank transfers would be higher than they were) they even gave us back the $10 in cash. IAAM may not be the cheapest agency in Kiev (it cost us about £30,000 for the surrogacy plus all the travelling and accommodation costs) but I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for and I felt we got an excellent service from IAAM. I know there are others on this forum who have also had positive experiences with other clinics in the Ukraine so there are a few to choose from.

The hardest part for us was the fact that we couldn't take our son home to the UK to meet family and friends until a passport is approved which for us took 13 weeks after our sons birth (and that is apparently fairly quick). HMPO were very frustrating so be prepared for a long stay in Kiev.  Kiev itself is actually a nice city with everything you could need. It was easy to buy nappies and formula and everything else we needed for our son. The shopping and eating out were also excellent. Our SM was 12 weeks pregnant when all the trouble started in Ukraine but we never saw any trouble at all and it really is just like any other European city and we always felt safe so I wouldn't let that put you off.

Surrogacy isn't easy and international surrogacy is even harder but from when we were told that surrogacy was our only option to holding my amazing son in my arms, the process was less than 18 months and all the difficult bits are forgotten when I look at my son!

If you have any questions please feel free to PM me.


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## rj765 (Dec 16, 2014)

Hi JBasil! Congrats on your kid birth! I am so happy for you   Can imagine how you feel after all the journey… I share your feelings as I have gone through surrogacy too. And I know how hard it can be. But at the end of your path you realize that it was worth it! 

I also did the procedure in Kiev, Ukraine. But I went with another clinic than you did. That was because of the price, it fit me more. Much more, actually. And they offered the same or even better stuff but for better money… 

Any way happy for you that everything went well and smooth. Now I have such a warm feeling for this country, as it made my dream come true   By the way I like reading success stories on this forum so hard. Can`t stop myself smiling (and sometimes even crying) while doing it   Do feel so happy for people who reached their main goal in this life and had gone through all this. Also wanted to tell all of you here who are still being afraid of surrogacy. Don`t be, because it is amazing to have opportunity to hug your baby after so many years and tears. And it is not that difficult if you go with professionals xoxo


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## DaisyMaisy (Jan 9, 2011)

Congratulations. Hope you have a safe journey home. Xx


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