Kirsty and Jeremy share extraordinary tale that will take them to Ukraine to pick up surrogate children

An Adelaide couple risking their lives by travelling to Ukraine to pick up their surrogate twins will today begin their long journey.

An Adelaide couple will today begin their journey to war-torn Kyiv to pick up their surrogate twins.

Jeremy and Kirsty Wenzel last week shared their remarkable story of an anxious nine-month wait for their unborn twins currently growing in a country being invaded by Russia.

The Port Noarlunga South couple will today start their long journey to Poland, after which they will get a train to Ukraine to meet their heavily pregnant surrogate mother.

Mr and Ms Wenzel met in 2019, after Mr Wenzel walked away from a ten-year marriage in search of a family.

Scans of Kirsty and Jeremy Wenzel’s twins. Picture: supplied.

“Jeremy was in a world of pain with his previous marriage and he wanted children and obviously that wasn’t going to happen with them,” Ms Wenzel said.

Welcoming Ms Wenzel, 43, and her four children aged 21, 18, 17, and 15, into his home, Ms Wenzel still saw a yearning in her partner’s eyes for a family of his own.

Kirsty and Jeremy Wenzel have to fly to Kyiv to pick up their surrogate twins. Picture: supplied

“We tried to see if we could have children but unfortunately we couldn’t - against doctor’s orders - it was never to happen again,” Ms Wenzel said.

“We decided to go down the path of surrogacy, and we did two rounds of IVF, and nobody knew, we kept it very quiet from family and friends just in case it didn’t quite happen, and we shipped our embryos to Ukraine.”

It is illegal to pay a surrogate mother in Australia, and Ukraine continued their surrogate services through the pandemic, which made it a desirable option.

Around Christmas 2021 the couple, who first shared their story exclusively to Mix 102.3’s Ali Clarke, found their surrogate mother was pregnant with twins.

Jeremy and Kirsty Wenzel have to fly to Kyiv to pick up their surrogate twins. Picture: supplied

At the time, Ukraine was peaceful, but on February 24 their world changed when Russia invaded the country.

“It was disbelief really,” Mr Wenzel said of his first reaction to Russia’s invasion.

“You work so hard to get so far and it was just like great, what next? Is this about to get taken away from us?”

Ms Wenzel said the couple desperately sought to contact their surrogate mother, Vayla, during the war and found contact through a communication app called Viber.

“Without her we’d be lost if we didn't have contact with her … she’s part of our family,” she said.

As the war continues on nearly six months later, the Wenzels are gearing up to travel to Ukraine next week.

“We’re pretty anxious … things could change overnight so we’ll just have to watch our backs and keep our wits about us,” Mr Wenzel said.

“We’re not quite sure when she’s going to give birth, so we could be in Kyiv for a week, or two or three weeks before the birth.”

The couple may have to then stay in Poland for up to a month while passports for their babies are being processed.

“We can’t abandon our children over there … we need to go get our babies,” Ms Wenzel said.