A couple spent £85,000 to have twins in Cyprus via surrogate but are now stuck in the country. Damian, 33, and Pasan Fernando, 36, had always dreamed of starting a family and began their journey six years ago.The couple struggled to find a surrogate in the UK and decided to look into their options abroad instead.
Through a recommendation they found World Center of Baby, Cyprus. Pasan’s sperm was used to fertilise a donor’s eggs – which they chose to best fit Damian’s features – before the couple were paired with a surrogate. They found out their surrogate was pregnant with twins in April 2024 and flew out to Cyprus on New Year’s Eve, ready for the birth.
River and Liko were born on January 3, 2025 but the parents have been unable to get them home to St Albans, Hertfordshire for the past eight weeks. They applied for their passports on January 13, 2025 – when they had all the documents required – but say their application is still waiting to be reviewed after several documents were mislaid.Damian, a head of maths, said: “This passport issue is incredibly frustrating.It’s silly human errors.It’s so avoidable.The children aren’t able to meet their grandparents.”
Damian and Pasan, an assistant head, met in 2014 and tied the knot in 2017. The both wanted to start a family and started looking into surrogacy in the UK six years ago.In the UK, under surrogacy law, the surrogate must be the one to initiate contact with the intended parents.
Damian said: “We joined a few organisations and Facebook groups. We did lots of socials.”
Pasan added: “We had an online journal so a surrogate can see what we’re like.”
But after years of trying to find a match the couple didn’t get a surrogate offer. In that time they were able to save up so in September 2023 they were able to consider going abroad for surrogacy.The couple had a recommendation for the World Center of Baby, based in Cyprus and had a call with the agency in October 2023.
They flew out in December to deposit samples and decided they would use Pasan’s sperm and an egg donor who resembled Damian. Pasan said: “It was important as it was my DNA that we wanted to look as close to Damian’s features as possible.”
They chose an egg donor in January 2024 and had their eggs fertilised that same month. After being left with three healthy embryos they were then able to choose a surrogate linked via the clinic in March 2023.They found out they were pregnant with twins in April 2023.
Pasan said: “It was quite surreal.”
The couple decided to not have contact with their surrogate until the birth as they didn’t want to make it “uncomfortable” for her. Pasan said: “The clinic – every three weeks they would send us a scan.”
Their surrogate was set for a scheduled C-section on January 3, 2025, and the couple flew out on New Year’s Eve. They were in the room next door when they babies were born and two hours later they got to meet Liko for the first time.Damian said: “It was a magical moment.They wanted to keep River a little longer just to make sure he was breathing OK.Liko looks like Pasan.River looks a lot like me.”
Pasan added: “They just said ‘here’s your baby’. We thought ‘how do we hold a baby?’ ‘How do we feed a baby?’We’re learning very quickly.”
The couple wanted to get back to the UK as quickly as possible. Pasan has been given a year of leave and Damian was kindly given the first half term of this school year off. They had previously instructed a lawyer and gathered all the documents they would need to apply for the twins passports.
After getting their birth certificates they were able to send off an application on January 13, 2025 and heard back on January 21 that they had been received. But on January, 31 the passport office requested new applications due to a confusion over where the passports were to be sent.
They resubmitted applications that same day and called to confirm that the supporting documents already sent over would be linked to the new applications. But the couple have now had a series of miscommunication and documents being misplaced holding up their application – and leaving them stranded in Cyprus.
Damian said: “Every single day it is something. We call them up every single day.”
They have recieved several emails claiming certain documents were missing – but they had been misplaced in the old application or the other twin’s application. The couple have had to move to three different Airbnb’s since being out there.
This is racking up extra cost after already forking out £70k to the agency and £15,000 on lawyers and travel. Damian said: “We had been warned to be prepared for incompetence.We’re just hoping something can change.We don’t want this to happen to future parents.”
The couple are still waiting for their applications to be reviewed and have been advised that there is “no timeline for this complicated process”.
They have no idea when they will be able to receive the passports for the twins to return home – which may mean Damian will have to take unpaid leave. He said: “There is a huge financial element.”
Despite the frustration the couple are trying to not it impact their baby bubble. They hope their story can also be one of hope for others wanting to become parents.Pasan said: “Be vigilant, there are lots of scams.But don’t give up hope.We’re proof it’s possible.”
The Home Office has been contacted for comment.