Surrogate babies born in Ukraine wait out war in basement

At a makeshift basement bomb shelter in Ukraine’s capital, at least 20 babies born to surrogate mothers are waiting for their foreign parents to be able to travel to the war-torn country and take them home

KYIV, Ukraine -- At a makeshift basement bomb shelter in Ukraine’s capital, at least 20 babies born to surrogate mothers are waiting for their foreign parents to be able to travel to the war-torn country and take them home.

Some just a few days old, the infants are well cared for, but even below ground the blasts of occasional shelling can be heard clearly.

Many of the surrogacy center's nurses are also stranded in the shelter because it’s too dangerous to travel to and from their homes. Ukrainian troops have been resisting Russian forces in Kyiv's suburbs as they attempt to encircle the city.

“Now we are staying here to preserve our and the babies’ lives,” said Lyudmilia Yashchenko, a 51-year-old nurse. “We are hiding here from the bombing and this horrible misery.”