‘We’ll be trapped in a war zone’: couple face months in Kyiv to claim their baby

Fliss and Memet Demir are travelling to the Ukrainian capital, where a surrogate mother is due to deliver the child

They have been warned not to make the trip from their home in Cambridgeshire

Friday June 07 2024, 11.30pm, The Times

Like any expectant mother with a baby due in a few weeks, Fliss Demir is packing sleepsuits, nappies, infant formula and wipes.

But her excitement and trepidation are tempered by fear, for Demir and her husband, Memet, are travelling to war-torn Ukraine to pick up their surrogate infant.

“I’m terrified, absolutely terrified,” Demir says, speaking at her home in the town of March, Cambridgeshire, shortly before the couple travelled towards the Polish border and on to Kyiv this week.

“I know I’m strong — I can handle probably more than most people — but I’m terrified because it’s the unknown.

“My brother was in the military. He’s saying, ‘When there’s bomb alerts, make sure you get behind concrete. And if a missile lands, the best