Meeting Our Baby in Ukraine: Whitney & Hugh’s International Surrogacy Story

Kristi C.
Aug 11
4 min read

This article is part of our amazing story with Whitney and her family. You may remember her. She previously shared her excitement about expecting a SMARTPath Fertility baby through surrogacy in Ukraine with her husband.

We promised to check back in once the baby was born. And now, here we are! You might even catch a glimpse of a tiny little baby in the video.

Whitney and Hugh’s story begins at the moment they met their newborn son in Ukraine.

“We walked toward a crib and asked, ‘Is that our baby?’” Whitney recalled. “When the staff said, ‘It’s your baby,’ we realized they were just clamping the cord and measuring him. It was surreal and overwhelming.”

This post shares, in their own words, what it was like to meet their baby for the first time, navigate hospital visits and embassy paperwork, and adjust to life with a newborn while abroad.

Meeting Their Baby

Whitney described the moment as almost unreal:

“It felt like the first moments we were led toward where a baby was, but we didn’t know it was ours. When we found out, it was overwhelming. We were so excited.”

Hugh added:

“It was surreal. We just stared at him. Then they handed him to us, and it really sank in.”

The Hospital Experience

They explained how they were welcomed as parents from the beginning:

“We were never looked at like we weren’t the parents,” Whitney said. “The hospital staff even told us, ‘We want you to do skin-to-skin time,’ and gave us space to bond with him.”

The couple visited for several hours a day until the baby was discharged:

“We got to spend about four hours each day with him, feeding and changing him, before going back to our apartment,” Hugh said.

Whitney noted how it eased them in:

“It almost gave us a little break before he came home full-time. We were learning a lot in those first days.”

First Nights as Parents

The first nights after discharge were challenging:

“You’re up a lot,” Hugh said. “He’d make little noises, and we didn’t know which were normal. We kept checking on him.”

Whitney added:

“We even started taking turns, one of us on the couch with the baby’s bassinet, so the other could sleep. We were so tired those first few days.”

They eventually decided to hire help:

“We had a night nurse for a few nights,” Whitney said. “She came from the hospital and stayed with the baby so we could get solid rest. That support was huge for us.”

Life Abroad with a Newborn

While abroad, they noticed how accessible baby supplies were:

“There’s a diaper store right at the end of the block,” Whitney said. “If we needed anything, we could just run out and get it.”

They also shared that they stayed longer than required, even after receiving documents:

“We could have left sooner, but we decided to wait until he was a bit older to fly,” Hugh said. “The apartments in the other city we considered weren’t as convenient, so we just stayed.”

A Rare Air-Raid

One night after the baby was born, they experienced a rare air raid:

“It was actually his first night in the world,” Hugh said. “He was in the hospital shelter, and we went to the one in our building’s garage.”

Whitney remembered how unsettling it was:

“We didn’t know the extent of the bombing. It was nerve-wracking. But we learned how to follow alerts and where to go. SMARTPath Fertility made sure we knew what to do and where to go. They made us feel safe.”

Embassy & Passport

The couple described how quickly they received documents:

“He was born Friday, and by that afternoon we had his birth certificate,” Whitney said. “Our embassy appointment was the following Wednesday.”

They took the train overnight for their appointment:

“He slept through the trip,” Hugh said. “We were in and out of the embassy in about an hour and a half.”

Language & Everyday Logistics

Language barriers required creativity:

“We’d ask in stores if anyone spoke English, and often they didn’t,” Whitney said. “But we used a translate app, even with our night nurse, and it worked.”

She added that the translation led to connection:

“We actually became friends with the nurse. She told us about her kids and pets through the app. We got to know her.”

Closing Reflections

Whitney shared how becoming parents felt both natural and new:

“Sometimes you look at him and think, ‘You’re mine,’ and other times it feels surreal,” she said. “But the love is there from the start.”

Hugh agreed:

“You’re tired, you’re learning, but you’re just so focused on this tiny person. It’s the best feeling.”

Watch Whitney and Hugh discuss their surrogacy process in Ukraine:

Interested in International Travel with Newborns?

Download our PDF "Successful International Travel with Newborns Checklist & Tips." Petra, a mother from one of our families who recently traveled to Ukraine to bring her baby home, compiled this guide. Drawing from her own experience, she’s created an invaluable resource filled with hotel recommendations, airline tips, and detailed checklists to help you prepare for every stage of your trip—before, during, and after.