Here's what Joel Cruz tells his children when they ask about their surrogate mother
Perfume mogul Joel Cruz went candid as to how he responds to questions of her children, all born via surrogacy when they ask for their mother.
As a guest over GMA Network’s Sarap Di Ba? hosted by Carmina Villaroel, Joel recalled that the questioning happened through one of his twins aged three.
“Dati, kinakatakutan ko ‘yun noong bago pa ang mga bata, noong maliliit pa sila,” he said. “‘Where’s mommy,’ sabi niyang ganoon. Kinabahan talaga ako.”
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Cruz then asked the question again, and finally responded, “She’s in Russia.” He was pertaining to Lilia, the mother of his eight children via surrogacy.
His kid then said ok, and Joel noted that there were no follow-up questions.
Carmia then asked Joel if he'd tell his children the truth if the time had come for them to reach adolescence and asked him again.
“We have the freedom. They can go there, they can be with their mom,” he said. “Kinukuwento ko naman kasi sa kanila na their mother, she’s very generous, she’s very caring.”
“Pero alam nila na ang mommy nila, may daddy. May pamilya sila, may anak,” he said. “Talagang tinulungan niya lang ako para magkaanak,” pertaining to the surrogacy.
“Alam na nila ‘yun, na ganoon ang sitwasyon namin,” Joel added. “Alam din nila na may money involvement… para malaman talaga nila ang katotohanan. Ayaw ko kasi magsekreto eh... alam ng tao lahat ang buhay ko. Ayaw ko manggaling sa ibang tao na nagsinungaling ako kaya lahat sinasabi ko.”
Joel reportedly spent around P54 million for the surrogacy of Prince Sean, Princess Synne, Prince Harvey, Prince Harry, Charles, Charlotte, Zaid, and Ziv.
Surrogacy is an arrangement wherein the woman agrees to bear a child that someone else will raise, be it a couple or a single parent. Sometimes the biological father provides the sperm cell, and sometimes the surrogate can be artificially inseminated with an already-fertilized egg in a process called in vitro fertilization or IVF.