Irish couple who paid €38k for surrogacy process 'besotted' with baby Lottie
New parents Sandra and Matt Lynch pictured in Ukraine with daughter Charlotte (Lottie) Lynch who was born on Wednesday morning.
Besotted parents of a baby born with the help of a surrogate in Ukraine this week say their daughter will be 'gobbled up' with love from everyone when they return to Ireland.
Sandra and Matthew Lynch haven't been able to take their eyes off little Charlotte (Lottie) Kathleen Lynch since she was born a week early on Wednesday — weighing 3.85kg (8lb 8oz).
The couple who run the well-known B&B, The Old Rectory in Trim, County Meath paid more than €38,000 for the whole surrogacy procedure for their newborn daughter but said that you can't put a price on a miracle.
"We are just besotted, it's amazing," said Sandra (50) who is already mum to an adult son and daughter in their 20s.
"It's Matt's first baby and he is stunned. He just can't believe it."
The Lynchs were in Kyiv for the birth but things happened so quickly at the end that baby Lottie was born before they got to the hospital: "Marina, our surrogate was due to go into hospital on June 24 and have Lottie by caesarean section on the 30th but I was in the shower when we got a phone call from the clinic to say Marina was preparing to give birth and a car would collect us in 20 minutes. I had the baby's bag packed and all that so we just threw a few pieces together and went.
"On the way, the girl in the car who was from the clinic whipped her phone around to us in the back and said 'look, she's been born!'
The couple told Late Lunch that they had researched a lot of clinics since they got married in 2019, before deciding on IV Med in Ukraine.
"I can't say enough about them. The lawyers both here and in Ireland are amazing and they know each other which we found to be a great safety net," said Sandra.
"We came out here last year. I had the choice of using my eggs but because of my age, I was just a bit apprehensive about it.
"Matt left a sample which was frozen and then we had to decide on a donor. The file is almost like Tinder where you flick through until you find one you like and one who resembled me in some way. So then they freeze the donor's egg and the embryo is placed in another woman's body who carries the child. We had four embryos — two boys and two girls — and the first embryo worked straight away."
"They did all kinds of genetic tests on them first to make sure there were no abnormalities. Throughout the pregnancy, they sent us all the scans, all videos, every detail of every check-up. It was much more detailed than if I was carrying the baby myself. After a few weeks, I was dying to know what it was so we found out it was a girl and we started deciding on names and picking up a few bits for her."
"Even though we were prepared with cots and prams and clothes, we still didn't take it all in until she was born on Wednesday. We will stay at the hospital for another few days and then take her to the Irish Embassy for her birth certificate and passport. The solicitors here and in Ireland will be in touch so that when we land in Ireland we go through a similar process."
"It will take up to two years for me to be actually recognised legally as Lottie's mother although I am on the birth certificate in the Ukraine along with Matt (58)."
"Our families and friends in Trim are bursting to see her — she will be gobbled up with love when she gets home."
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