‘We are going to be with our boy’ - father’s vow to newborn son in Ukraine

Co Kerry man Dermot Moynihan said he and his wife Dorothy hope to get their newborn son Luke, born to a surrogate mother in Ukraine, out of the country "safely as quickly as possible".

The couple leave Dublin on Wednesday for Lviv, a city in the western Ukraine, travelling through Poland amid heightened fears that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is imminent.

They will either fly from Krakow or travel by train from the Polish city on Thursday depending on whether flights are restricted due to Russia’s build-up of troops around the country.

Luke was born early on Tuesday and Mr Moynihan told The Irish Times the couple were “absolutely over the moon”.

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“We are looking at photos of him right now. He is absolutely stunning,” he said.

Despite Department of Foreign Affairs advice against travel to Ukraine, Mr Moynihan said they were intent on going to bring their son home. The birth of their first child was a “very emotional time”, he said, and their focus was on Luke being “healthy and safe”.

“We are getting in and we are going to be with our boy and we are going to bring him home safely no matter what happens,” he said.

Mr Moynihan feels that the birth of the couple’s baby is in the western part of the country, rather that the more volatile eastern part, makes it a little easier.

His thoughts, he said, were with other 13 Irish couples awaiting the arrival of other babies over the coming weeks through surrogates in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and elsewhere in the country.

“Does it add stress? It can do but I feel that we are a little bit away from the main action. That reduces the stress,” he said of the tensions.

The couple hope to be in and out of Ukraine in two weeks, or more quickly if it is possible to fast-track the paperwork around the birth cert and DNA test.

Mr Moynihan said he has already packed a Kerry GAA jersey for their son to wear on the journey home. “To land in Dublin Airport will be incredibly emotional. It will just be an amazing journey - home with our boy.”