After a long wait, an Argentine couple finally got the chance to fly over to Ukraine to meet their baby son born through surrogacy.
Francis Maguire reports.
The wait is finally over for Jose and Flavia.
On Wednesday (June 10) the Argentine parents finally got to meet their baby son Manu for the first time, 71 days after he was born to a surrogate mother in Ukraine.
They hadn't been able to pick him up until now due to global lockdowns that stopped them travelling from Buenos Aires to Kiev.
And they needed special government permission to travel.
[Flavia Lavorino:] "So much emotion.
We are talking and we are thrilled.
We have a hard time keeping ourselves [grounded].
A lot of anxiety." [Jose Perez:] "Joy, excitement, happiness, accomplishment.
To realise the achievement we've searched for ten years." [Flavia Lavorino:] "Everything was a struggle.
The beginning.
Until we got here we had to fight, it was always a struggle." Dozens of couples around the world have seen their babies stranded at the BioTexCom clinic in Ukraine due to the outbreak.
Surrogacy is legal in the country - with surrogate mothers receiving about $15,000-$17,000.
After a long wait, Jose and Flavia arrived in Ukraine at the end of May along with eight other families from Argentina.
They were placed under quarantine for seven days at a hotel in Kiev before meeting Manu.
Now, the parents can return home with an extra passenger on the plane.
Parents finally meet their surrogate children who had been stranded in the Ukraine due to the pandemic.