BY ALEXA BASA
Fragrance mogul Joel Cruz shared that he spent P52 million for his eight children who were all born via in-vitro fertilization.
Cruz revealed he spent P12 million for his first twins, P11 million for the second, another P11 million for the third, and P9 million each for his seventh and eighth children.
He spent the highest on his first twins because he had additional expenses to fix all the requirements to bring his children home.
“Kasi nung first, ang hirap, ang daming problema namin. Umiiyak na nga ako sa Russia kasi gustong-gusto ko na ngang iuwi (sila) sa nanay ko to the point na mag-eexpire na ‘yung visa namin, so uuwi kami ng Pilipinas,” Cruz said in a YouTube interview with Ogie Diaz.
“Tsaka ‘yung uuwi ako na, ang lungkot lungkot ko na, hindi ko naiuwi ‘yung anak ko … Ang daming papeles pero wala kang choice kasi susunod ka sa kanila (sa Russia),” he added.
His children came from the same Russian mother named Lilia, but the second and third set of twins, as well as the seventh and eighth child were carried by surrogate mothers. All egg cells came from Lilia.
He admitted he tried surrogacy in the Philippines, but was unsuccessful, so he went to other countries for the procedure.
His first twins are named Prince Sean and Princess Synne, who were born in September 2012. They were followed by Prince Harry and Prince in October 2015; Charles and Charlotte in May 2017; Zeid in June 2018; and Ziv in November 2018.
He said that his eldest kids “know somehow” how they became his children but not in full detail.
“They just know na … married ‘yung mommy nila, may asawa at anak din, parang kinausap ko ‘yung mommy na tulungan akong magkaroon ng baby ganon na pumayag naman ‘yung mommy niya,” he said.
Cruz has maintained a good relationship with his children’s mother, who was hands-on in taking care of the babies when they were still in Russia.
Lilia and her family were meant to visit the Philippines but their trip was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
