Joel Cruz is no longer recommending the surrogacy clinic that helped fulfill his dream of becoming a dad.
The reason?
“May mga batang nabiyak.”
He continued, "Actually, problema ng ibang clients niya.
“Good thing, ako, nakatapos na ako ng walo. Di ba, ako, may walo akong anak. Awa naman ng Diyos wala akong problema sa kanya.
"But lately, I heard, nagkaroon siya ng kaso sa isang Filipino client and Chinese client. May namatay na bata. May mga batang nabiyak.
"So simula noon, hindi ko muna ma-recommend.
"But alam naman nitong Russian firm na ito na mula 11 years ako nasa kanya, promote ako nang promote sa kanya, which, in fact, siya ang pumupunta dito.
“Lawyer siya, e. Pumupunta siya sa Philippines. Prino-promote ko siya, e.
“But after what happened recently, hindi na ako nagre-recommend sa kanya.
"Kasi nga, baka merong mangayri na hindi maganda sa kanya. Bakit napabayaan? Bakit namatay yung bata?”
Besides the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, there is a new law—which was signed by Russia President Vladimir Putin in December 2022—restricting surrogacy clinics in Russia from accepting foreigner clients.
Why? Because a child born by a surrogate mother in Russia would automatically be given Russian citizenship.
But, according toThe Moscow Times, couples where one of the spouses is a Russian citizen will still be able to use Russian surrogate mothers.
READ How single dad Joel Cruz is raising his eight kids
SURROGACY OPTIONS PLUS COST
One of the people who recently approached Joel was Vice Ganda, who is seriously considering to have a baby with his partner Ion Perez via surrogacy.
Joel mentioned other options for the Kapamilya host.
There's Singapore, where surrogacy is actually illegal.
Another is India, where the cost, according to Singapore's parenting website The Asian Parent, ranges from 12-15 lakh INR or from 835,000 to 1.2 million in Philippine peso.
READ Joel Cruz: In his mansion of plenty
In Ukraine, the cost is between USD55,000 to USD70,000 (PHP3M to PHP3.8M). Some clinics offer a guarantee program that entails unlimited egg donations, IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization) cycles, and embryo transfers until a successful birth.
But because of the war, a lot of clients have turned to Georgia, a transcontinental country located at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia.
According to an article published on Yahoo in March 2023, the cost of surrogacy programs in Georgia is roughly USD22,000 (or PHP1.2M), which is almost seven times lower than USD150,000 (or PHP8.4M), the cost in U.S.
READ: Joel Cruz reveals what one of his kids knows about not having a mom
For Joel’s eight children, he spent about PHP54 million.
For his first set of twins, he spent PHP7 million.
It can be recalled that his journey to fatherhood began on September 12, 2011, with the birth of Sean and Synne, Joel's first set of twins.
They were both born in Moscow, Russia, to a surrogate mom—a tall Russian lady named Lilia—who is also their biological mom.
He welcomed two more sets of twins: Prince Harry and Prince Harvey arrived on October 23, 2015, and Charles and Charlotte came on May 24, 2017.
The youngest two were both born in 2018—Zaid on June 24 and Ziv on November 6; the youngest on December 13.
The two sets of twins and his 7th and 8th kids were delivered by different surrogate moms.
But all of his eight kids have one biological mom—Lilia, who is now 41 years old.
This exclusive interview was conducted by Julie Bonifacio for PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) on April 25, 2023, at the birthday party of radio host Jobert Sucaldito, in Music Box, Timog Avenue, Quezon City.