One year after receiving news that their surrogate mother had given birth to their daughter prematurely in Ukraine, on the eve of the Russian invasion, Jessica van Nooten and Kevin Middleton cannot contain their joy at having celebrated baby Alba's first birthday.
"It's been really emotional, reminiscing about what we were doing this time last year and the feelings we were feeling … and to see her thriving now, just makes me feel so happy," Ms van Nooten said.
The text message sent to the Melbourne couple on February 22 last year came as a shock, as Alba was born 12 weeks before her due date.
With their tiny daughter clinging to life in a hospital in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa, the couple booked the next available flight and left Australia the following day to be by her side.
But when their flight reached Dubai, they received a call from the Australian government telling them they would not be arriving in Ukraine that day.
"We were already processing how Alba was born prematurely, and processing picking up our life and leaving so much earlier than we planned," Ms van Nooten said.
"And then we found out there was a war."
Russian aggression
Earlier, the couple were assured by their surrogacy agency that the threat of war was nothing to be concerned about, despite tension on the Russian border in Eastern Ukraine.
But by the time they were en route to Ukraine, Russia had amassed about 190,000 troops in what was deemed the biggest mobilisation of troops since the Second World War.
"They were shocked that the war had broken out, like it took them by surprise," Ms van Nooten said.
The couple were not aware of Alba's medical complications until they arrived in Poland, when her doctor called to inform them that Alba's lungs had collapsed and there was a bleed on her brain.
"We had the premature birth, then we had the war, and then we found out Alba was unwell, so it was just shock after shock after shock, and it was awful," Ms van Nooten said.
The new parents eventually made it to Ukraine after two weeks, by travelling through Moldova and crossing the border into Ukraine on foot.
There they passed hundreds of Ukrainians heading in the opposite direction and fleeing the war-torn country.
Entering Ukraine
Nearly 110,000 Ukrainian refugees currently reside in Moldova.
"I don't think it hit me that we were walking into a war zone — until we did," Ms van Nooten said.
"I was so excited about going to meet Alba, I sort of wasn't thinking about much else."
When they arrived, doctors told them that Alba needed to stay in hospital for treatment and monitoring.
But after waking up to Odesa being shelled and hearing about Mariupol's maternity hospital being targeted in an air strike in early March, the couple organised for Alba to be transferred to a hospital in Moldova.
The trip had put further strain on Alba's health and Ms van Nooten said she looked "terrible".
"The head doctor came out and she told us, 'You need to go home and pray because Alba's going to die'," she said.
Alba continued to defy the odds, but after 10 days Moldovan doctors told the parents that Alba required more specialised care.
The family then travelled to London, where they stayed for 11 weeks before Alba was strong enough to make the long flight to the home that was waiting for her in Melbourne.
But soon after arriving in Melbourne, Ms van Nooten noticed Alba was making some "funny movements".
More health complications
Doctors diagnosed Alba with infantile spasms, a rare form of epilepsy.
"It wasn't a surprise to the medical professionals that something would happen, because she did have a brain injury when she was born," Ms van Nooten said.
Alba was prescribed a seven-week steroid treatment which completely changed her behaviour and made her gain two kilograms in weight.
"Her personality changed and she physically changed ... and she stopped making eye contact, she stopped moving, she stopped doing everything," Ms van Nooten said.
"It was really, really hard but we had to help her brain and so now we're relearning everything she could do.
"There's a bit of developmental delay but premature babies are a bit behind anyway."
Early intervention is key
Now, the family has enlisted a range of health professionals to provide early intervention care, including a physiotherapist, hydrotherapist, occupational therapist and acupuncturist.
Alba celebrated her first birthday in great health, no longer experiencing infantile spasms, and has even started attending child care.
"We've had some really awesome times [being back in Australia] but it's also been really hard, we've had a lot of challenges," Ms van Nooten said.
For the past eight years, the couple had been trying for a baby, going through multiple rounds of IVF before deciding to find a surrogate.
"It's consumed our lives for so many years … and I sort of thought the baby would fix that, but our journey is a little bit different," she said.
"But then we have the really basic things like whenever I walk in the supermarket I smile, like I'm so happy to be pushing her in the pram or like the little things like the first time driving the trolley.
"That makes me smile, doing the normal things, that's beautiful."
But Ms van Nooten and Mr Middleton have not forgotten the ongoing struggle of thousands of people in the country where their daughter was born.
They keep in contact with their surrogate and hope to return to Ukraine one day with Alba.
"The war in Ukraine, that's really upsetting, like we've got our beautiful baby girl at home but so many babies and families and people we met, and people we didn't meet, are struggling so much with 12 months of war," Ms van Nooten said.
