A heartbroken Dublin dad “cried the whole plane journey home”, after he had to leave his surrogate triplets in Kenya.
dward O’Reilly, who lives in Santry Cross, left the African country with just the birth certificates rather than his three newborn daughters.
Briella, Camilla, and Renesmee were born almost two months prematurely on September 1. Edward and his partner flew over to collect their children four days later.
They used a surrogacy service which cost €50,000 and were told all expenses were covered in the initial payment. However, they were asked for a further €16,000 when they arrived.
Then they were asked for another €12,000 in hospital bills for the babies’ medication and food, along with an extra €11,000 to pay the medics. They cannot bring their daughters home until these costs are paid.
“It’s like a nightmare. We wanted to be parents and now that we finally are, we’re not allowed to have our babies,” Edward said.
“From the beginning, we always knew we were going to be a family. We talked about having a kid on our first date and we’re together six years now.
“Last March, we finally started contacting agencies. We thought we could do it and we could afford it. Our family members were willing to help and put a few bob together.
“In August 2021, we found this agency in Kenya. We flew out that October and everything seemed great. Everything was going to plan, the clinic was really nice, everything looked perfect.
“We found out that we were pregnant this March. In June we were told it was triplets and we were absolutely ecstatic,” Edward (33) said.
“But we also knew there could be health complications during the pregnancy. Through those months we prayed every day for the surrogate and that she’d be okay.”
On the last day of August, Edward and his partner received a call to say their babies would be delivered the next day. They had no Kenyan visas or flights booked at such short notice, but were finally able to fly out on September 5.
“Our flight was delayed, so it was late at night when we finally arrived. We couldn’t see the babies at that time so stayed in a hotel and the agency picked us up at 9am,” Edward said.
“We thought we were heading straight to see the kids, we had baby chairs with us. We were so excited, we’d everything packed to dress them.
“Straight away, we were asked for more money. Alarm bells started to ring in my head, I didn’t know what was going on. They wanted €16,000 extra that wasn’t in the contract. There were extra medical bills too.
“I asked if we could talk about it later because I just wanted to see my kids. At 2pm, we were still waiting to see them.
“My goal was to see the babies, but they knew we weren’t going to pay the extra money, so they dropped us off on the side of the road.
“We were in a strange city and didn’t know what hospital the kids were in. We’d to walk a mile and a half with two big suitcases each and three baby chairs.”
It took the couple a few hours to figure out which hospital the babies were born in as the agency refused to tell them without the payment.
“We finally figured it out and when we got to see them, we were shocked,” Edward said. “My babies had tubes in them everywhere. They needed more oxygen, Camilla especially. She fit in the palms of our two hands. We didn’t think she was going to make it.
“In the next few days, we found out that the hospital bills weren’t covered. The girls had to stay in hospital for weeks because they were so premature and had so many complications. I went to the Irish Embassy and pleaded for help, but nothing.”
Edward made the tough decision of coming back to Ireland because he believed he would raise funds quicker here. Now his daughters are 50 days old and the bills continue to mount, so he set up a Go Fund Me page.
“I remember kissing them goodbye and telling them I loved them. I still don’t know when I’ll be going back,” he said.
“It was a tough decision. I cried the whole plane journey back. There was no other option, I would’ve never raised the money to get the kids home if I stayed in Kenya.
“The minute I get the money I’ll be getting on a plane to get my kids and come home. It was heartbreaking to leave with just three birth certs. I should’ve had my three babies. I can’t explain how I feel.”
You can donate to the Go Fund Me page here.
Discussion about this post