A New Jersey couple who had to wait months to bring their newborn baby home have reunited in the United States.
Sam and Laura Kaitz’s dream to grow their family via international surrogacy was delayed for months after their newborn son Simon was stuck in Mexico and they couldn’t secure essential documents for their son, including a birth certificate and a passport.
The couple had wanted a child together but couldn’t conceive. They said they considered other options such as adoption and fostering, but Laura Kaitz said she wasn’t determined to be an ideal candidate for adoption.
They said that because of COVID-related delays in fostering, they ended up choosing international surrogacy, since there appeared to be fewer delays, and overall, it was less expensive than domestic surrogacy services.
PHOTO: Laura and Sam Kaitz talked to ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ on July 17, 20223, about the challenges they faced using a surrogacy agency in Mexico and trying to bring their baby home following the birth. (ABC News)
“We were led to believe that this wouldn’t have been an issue, that it was perfectly legal,” Laura Kaitz said.
The Kaitzes said they had initially looked into surrogacy services in Ukraine but chose a surrogacy agency in Mexico due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and because Mexico is closer to the U.S.
Their son Simon was born on April 18. When Sam Kaitz went to meet him in Mexico City, he planned to bring the baby boy home with him.
But the family started to face setback after setback trying to get documents for Simon in order to go home, such as a birth certificate and a passport, and claimed they received little help from their Mexican surrogacy agency.
“It was terrifying. It was a nightmare,” Laura Kaitz said. “Every night I would have another nightmare about him not getting out.”
“It was terrifying to be in a place where you don’t know the language and you don’t know the law and you’re at the mercy of the surrogacy agency,” she added.
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Source: Good Morning America
