Bay Area Couple Stranded In Mexico Over Surrogacy Snafu Can Finally Go Home With Son
MEXICO CITY (KPIX 5) -- One-month-old Grayson may not appreciate the journey yet, until his parents Christy and Haseeb Amireh tell him one day.
But his first weeks of life were spent living in hotel rooms because the state of Tabasco, Mexico, where he was born, unexpectedly stopped issuing birth certificates to all surrogate babies.
KPIX 5 first introduced the couple Wednesday when they were interviewed on Skype from their hotel room in Mexico, desperate for help.
• RELATED: KPIX 5's Original Report On The Couple
"You know, it's just scary, because of the unknown, and I panicked," Christy Amireh told KPIX 5's Juliette Goodrich, who traveled to Mexico City to interview the family.
Surrogacy is legal in Tabasco, but a change in the current administration put a sudden halt to birth certificates issued to surrogate babies.
The couple felt stuck. Christy and Haseeb said they did their due diligence. Despite using a reputable surrogacy agency, they were denied a birth certificate for their baby, day after day and Grayson was still a Mexican citizen.
Finally, a sliver of hope, with new lawyers and news spreading quickly after KPIX 5's story first aired, the couple headed back to the registry in Tabasco.
"Everything was touch and go, they kept saying no," Hasseb Amireh recalled. "We kept had two lawyers there and I think it was the power of the people. And at one point, our lawyer showed them the video you put together on CBS and she said this is going to go bigger, unless you give them the birth certificate."
Officials finally granted the family the birth certificate for little Grayson.
And yet, in Mexico there are still reputable and not so reputable surrogate agencies still working with hopeful parents and matching them to a surrogate. In Tabasco, there are dozens of surrogate women ready to give birth to a couple's baby, who won't be able to leave the country.
Christy and Haseeb said there are other couples from all over the world that are also having trouble leaving with their babies. "All over the world, Spain, Germany," Hasseb said.
The new family is hoping to be back in the Bay Area in time for Mother's Day.