surrogate with couple.Photo:Getty

Closeup of a human hand and a woman on the belly of a pregnant woman 6 months

Getty

The couple explored surrogacy outside of the United States because of costs and were connected with an agency in Mexico. Laura, a mom to two sons from a previous relationship, wanted another child with Sam, but pregnancy wasn’t medically possible for her.

The two nearly signed an agreement with a Ukrainian surrogate,another popular option for US coupleslooking for cost-effective surrogates, days before the Russian invasion of the country.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Getty Images / Agence Photographique BSIP

Premature baby holding NICU dad finger

“That was something she was very excited about being able to say, ‘I am his mother and nobody else,’” Sam said of Laura, 52, toThe Washington Post.

However, getting the infant’s documentation proved difficult. The couple had to go through Mexico’s court system to get Laura’s name on the birth certificate.

An American Passport.Yenwen/E+/Getty Images

american passport and map

As they’ve tried to fight through bureaucratic paperwork, Laura, a property manager, has gone back and forth between New Jersey and Mexico so that she could also care for one of her sons, who is legally disabled, while Simon spent three weeks in the NICU in Mexico.

“It has been extremely stressful,” Sam told the outlet, noting that Laura’s other son, who has autism, “has said to her on more than one occasion that he doesn’t think that I care about him anymore because I’m down here and not with him and he feels abandoned, which breaks my heart because that is not true.”

Sam focuses on staying numb in the situation, noting, “If I don’t, I will either break down or start screaming at someone.”

“And I cannot afford to feel right now. Not when Simon is depending solely on me.”

source: people.com