When parents decide to start or grow their families through surrogacy, they usually want to be present at their child’s birth and take the child home with them from the hospital. Unfortunately, the novel Coronavirus pandemic has disrupted these plans for intended parents around the world.

Travel restrictions implemented to disrupt the spread of the virus mean that in many cases, parents from other countries were able to be present for their children’s births but haven’t been able to leave the U.S. with their babies because they are unable to obtain passports or other travel documents. Making matters even more dire, these parents are often unable to insure their children. So, on top of paying for months in hotel rooms, they face having to pay the full cost of medical care should their children contract COVID-19 (or any other virus or illness.) That’s the situation Israeli parents Nir Tcik and his husband Avi are facing, as they spend their days in a New Jersey hotel room, afraid to take the baby outside while they wait for a birth certificate and travel documents.

In other cases, parents cannot get into the U.S. to be there for their babies’ births, leaving the children temporarily with surrogacy case coordinators or even with the gestational carriers themselves. Sierra Martin carried a child for a Chinese couple and gave birth to a baby boy on February 23. Because his parents haven’t been able to enter the U.S. under the current travel restrictions, Martin is caring for the child herself. She is confident she will be able to say “good-bye” to baby Steven when his parents are able to collect him, but admits that it will be difficult.

In these unprecedented times, intended parents and gestational carriers are facing situations nobody imagined or planned for. While you cannot plan for every possible scenario, working with a skilled attorney can help protect you and your child through the surrogacy process. To learn more, contact The Surrogacy Law Center today.