Due to lockdown restrictions, a surrogate mom in Idaho who made headlines last year still carries the baby after ten months from giving birth to the baby she bore for a couple in China.
Owing to travel restrictions imposed as a result of COVID-19, the biological parents have been unable to visit the United States. The limits are the primary source of concern. Emily Chrislip, the surrogate mom, doesn't think the couple in China have trouble getting into the United States, but they may have difficulty returning to Asia.
Only FaceTime calls and pictures have allowed the biological parents to see their 10-month-old daughter.
The surrogate mom was scheduled to give birth and hand the baby over to her biological parents on the same day, but COVID-19 was declared a pandemic two months before she was supposed to give birth. The couple has been unable to pick up their daughter due to strict travel restrictions.
"I can't believe how quickly time has flown by. I know it was supposed to be four weeks, and we'd take care of her and send her home, but it's now been nine months. We're hoping they'll be able to get here before May, when she turns one," Chrislip remarked.
One of the factors they haven't been able to come to the United States is that the whole procedure of the parents moving to the US to pick up the baby could take up to three months.
"My husband and I have talked about it, and our job is our livelihood, and that's how we pay for things, so we have to work around that for ourselves too," Emily stated.
One of the couple's challenges is China's stringent regulations and the need to take proper safety precautions. They don't want to expose the baby to COVID-19 because they'll be on several flights.
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Their surrogacy story
After giving birth to her son in 2018, Emily Chrislip, a Nampa native, agreed to become a surrogate. She decided to give the gift of motherhood to someone else and began the process in February 2019 after consulting with her husband.
Emily was chosen as a surrogate for a couple in China by September of that year. Up until two months before giving birth, when COVID-19 was declared a pandemic and travel restrictions were imposed, everything was going as planned.
The biological parents had the choice of hiring a nanny agency to care for the baby before they could return to the United States to pick her up, but instead requested Emily and her husband to help.
Emily claims she put herself in the parents' shoes and realized she had to care for the child.
But things didn't go as planned, and Emily is still caring for the baby more than four months later, although the initial intention was for her to hand the baby over as soon as she gave birth.
