View source for After Long Delay Parents Finally Meet Surrogate Baby In Ukraine

<br>By Margaryta Chornokondratenko and Sergiy Karazy<br> <br>KIEV, June 10 (Reuters) - For parents Jose Perez and Flavia Lavorino, the wait is finally over.<br>On Wednesday, the couple from Buenos Aires met their baby son Manu for the first time, 71 days after he was born to a surrogate mother 8,000 miles (12,875 km) away in Ukraine.<br> <br>"Joy, excitement, happiness, accomplishment," a beaming Perez told Reuters, when asked how they felt.<br> <br>Lockdowns and closed borders imposed by governments around the world to contain the coronavirus pandemic had prevented the parents from travelling to Kiev to pick him up until now.<br> <br>Before Wednesday, Perez and Lavorino had only seen Manu, short for Manuel, in videos and photographs as they waited for special government permission to travel.<br> <br>Now Lavorino can cradle Manu in her arms.<br><br>As Perez kisses his head, the baby gives a little yawn.<br> <br>Taking two flights with a layover in Madrid, the couple brought clothes, sneakers, blankets and a soccer T-shirt from Argentine Club Atlético Independiente with them. Lavorino worried the tiny socks for Manu would no longer fit.<br> <br>"Everything was a struggle ... I don't have many words to describe just what I feel inside, there is so much emotion," said Lavorino.<br> <br>The Argentine couple was among dozens in Europe, the United States, China and elsewhere whose babies were stranded at the BioTexCom clinic in Ukraine.<br> <br>Perez, a 47-year-old doctor, and Lavorino,  [http://marvelunited.com/HawaiianNights/index.php?action=profile;u=811756 http://marvelunited.com/HawaiianNights/index.php?action=profile;u=811756] a 41-year-old social worker, had been trying to have a child for years before turning to surrogacy, which is legal in Ukraine.<br> <br>"Every year is hard, but each year you also have the pain of the previous one," Perez said.<br><br>"It costs you more to keep your hopes up. You are worn out physically and mentally, so the last years were even worse than the first ones," Lavorino said.<br> <br>They arrived in Ukraine at the end of May, along with eight other families from Argentina whose babies had been born or are due to be born at the clinic.<br> <br>On arrival, Perez and Lavorino were placed under quarantine for seven days at a hotel in the suburbs of Kiev before meeting Manu.<br><br>They were not allowed to leave their rooms, and meals were left on a table outside their door.<br> <br>"The coronavirus has shown that there are many things in life that can make you stronger - hugs, kisses, the touch of those you love - these things," Perez said.<br> <br>"This pandemic has shown us that these things are feelings you have to hold onto more closely." (Additional reporting by Alexander Marrow in Moscow; writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Mike Collett-White)<br>