These Helpless Gay Dads Are Stranded In Mexico And Desperate To Get Their Newborns Home
"This level of desperation is what the international surrogacy agencies bank on."
Two dads from New Zealand recently traveled to Mexico to meet and bring home their three children, but were abandoned by the surrogacy agency they've been working with for more than a year.
David and Nicky Beard, a married couple from Auckland, New Zealand, were excited to travel to Mexico for the birth of their three babies, Lachlan, Kelly and Blake. The children were born via surrogate.
The babies are being called "triplings," because they were born from two different surrogate mothers but were conceived with the same sperm and eggs.
David and Nicky had made several payments to the surrogacy agency prior to their arrival, but once in Mexico, the agency representative disappeared, along with all their money.
The Beards were then forced to repay all the money they'd lost to cover medical and aftercare costs. These unforeseen bills have left the family in debt and unable to return home.
"We paid everything in New Zealand up front before we left. We had $40,000 in the bank to get us home, which is ample," David Beard told TV NZ.
International surrogacy is now illegal for gay couples in Mexico, but both birth mothers were already pregnant when the law came into effect. The couple was told they would have no problem taking their children home.
"At this point in time, we're in debt to the amount of $280,000," David told Stuff.nz.co.
The children are legally considered Mexican citizens and will need passports and exit visas in order to go home with their dads.
David, who is a lawyer, is seeking help from the New Zealand government to help bring his children home. He's asked Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse to help provide the children with NZ passports through the NZ embassy in Mexico.
Officials in New Zealand have yet to provide the Beards with anything more than advice on the situation. Paula Attrill, director of international casework in the NZ Ministry of Social Development, said the Ministry could only be of assistance once the Beards have returned to New Zealand, where they'll be able to legally adopt the children through the NZ Family Court.
Family friend Grace Nixon started a crowdfunding page to help bring the family back to New Zealand.
The Give A Little page has generated more than $14,000 in donations.