Greg and Elaine Smith used a surrogate in Mexico to fulfill their dream of becoming parents and are now facing high medical costs after their twins were born prematurely in a Mexican hospital.
“They’ve been trying for years and years and it just never panned out for them so they explored their options and decided to go the surrogacy route,” says family member Christy Gelowitz. “They ended up going with a surrogate down in Mexico.”
The problems started when the Smith’s twins– Ariana and Ayden– were born on Jan. 8, two months early. Ariana suffered a collapsed lung and both are in critical condition.
Health care costs for the twins are adding up.
“The hospital is wanting them to be all paid up and right now they’re amassing $6,000 every four days, so it’s adding up pretty quickly for them,” says family member Aaron Gelowitz.
Their hospital bill stands at around $55,000. Add that to the cost of surrogacy and their costs are well over $100,000. The family is desperate to bring the twins home but they can’t without a birth certificate, which the hospital in Mexico won’t issue.
The family needs a notary for a certificate to be issued, but the hospital isn’t letting anyone but parents into the NICU.
The Smiths have started a fundraising website. They hope once the hospital is paid in full and the babies are well enough, they’ll be able to return to B.C.
“They’re stuck between a rock and a hard place,” says Christy Gelowitz. “It’s like their hands are tied and they don’t have any options.”
The couple’s gofundme page can be found here.
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