TESTIMONY. “She was only four days old”: the incredible exfiltration of a baby born by surrogacy in Ukraine

Everything was planned for the birth of their daughter, except the unthinkable. Landing in kyiv on February 20, Jessie and Jacob Boeckmann, both Californian doctors, suspected that the birth by GPA of their daughter, Vivi, scheduled two days later, would be eventful. “We arrived in kyiv a little earlier due to the uncertain geopolitical situation”, explains the couple, already parents of a little girl also born under GPA.

“The city’s airport was closed. We knew getting out of the country would be difficult, but we had no idea what was in store for us.” In the early hours of February 24, at the maternity ward, the little family is awakened by explosion sounds. Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine, so feared by Westerners, has just broken out. Immediately, the couple decides to go to Lviv, where the United States Embassy has moved. The airport closed, they rent a car. What was supposed to be a six hour drive was going to become a twenty-seven hour journey.

“I was so afraid that our baby would die of hunger or cold”

“En route, we learned that the temporary American embassy had closed and that we had to go to Poland. When we got close to the border, we couldn’t go any further. It was 2 a.m., we had to sleep in the car,” says Jessie. Upon awakening, circulation is blocked. The parents decide to brave freezing temperatures and advance to the Polish border, either eight hour walk. “I was so afraid that our baby would die of hunger or cold. She was only four days old…”

“I managed to cross the border with our daughter, but the men could not cross”

On the road of exodus, solidarity is there. Strangers help the couple by carrying some luggage. At the border, the crowd is huge. “After waiting about two and a half hours, ramshackle in every direction, I managed to cross with the baby, but the border control forbade the men to pass. My husband couldn’t come with us. “While trying to reach his wife and daughter, Jacob, 37, was attacked in the crowd.

Then he must prove that he does not hold a fake US passport to evade the no-exit rule for men of fighting age. In this chaos, the couple loses all their luggage. Fortunately, with the help of her family, whom she manages to contact, Jessie books a hotel ninety minutes from the border. On the morning of the 27th, Jacob finds them. The couple and the baby then join Warsaw, from where they fly to California. “We are very proud of each other. The situation was insane, but we held on. Together. While we are happy to have returned home safe and sound, our hearts remain heavy in the face of this devastated country. “