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Surrogate Mother or an egg donor?
This book
is a moving real-life account of one woman's struggle
with infertility and her journey through surrogacy to
have the family she desperately wanted.
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Latest Surrogacy News
I handed over my baby son to a
childless couple a year ago.. Now I'm overjoyed to give
them a second child.
Exclusive Single mum
Jackie has first surrogate siblings
By Sharon Feinstein
Sunday Mail May 23, 2004
THE baby growing inside
Jackie Hunter is destined to be one of Scotland's first
surrogate siblings.
The 33-year-old from
Lanarkshire is halfway through her second surrogate
pregnancy for the same couple.
A year ago, she handed
over a baby son to a Glasgow couple, identified only as
Alison and Brian, who were unable to have kids of their
own.
She found the experience
so uplifting that she's agreed to do the same again.
Patting her tummy with
pride, Jackie insists she has no qualms about handing
over her babies.
And as wicked Moira
Greenslade begins a two year sentence for selling her
baby to two childless couples, Jackie has leapt to the
defence of genuine surrogates.
On Friday, judge Mr
Justice Henriques branded Greenslade a 'dishonest
predator'.
Jackie said: 'People will
see this woman's case as a surrogacy gone wrong.
'So many people want to
see surrogacy in a bad light but her's was certainly not
a surrogacy arrangement. She was trying to sell a baby
who had no genetic link to any of the fathers she
promised it to.
'I think surrogacy's a
fantastic thing because it's about creating families.
There are lots of desperate couples out there and
surrogacy is their only answer.'
Divorcee Jackie, of Wishaw,
has three children of her own, but she's always had a
desire to help childless couples.
When she walked into a
meeting of Surrogacy UK and met pretty blonde Alison and
her husband, Brian, she knew within five minutes that
she would carry their baby.
Born without a womb,
Alison believed she was condemned to a life without
children but Jackie gave her hope. She was artificially
inseminated by Brian and last year gave birth to a baby
son, Daniel.
Now, in an extraordinary
move, they're awaiting the arrival of Daniel's sibling.
Speaking exclusively to
the Sunday Mail, Jackie said: 'In my teens I read a
story in a magazine about a girl from my area who wanted
to be a surrogate.
'She was separated from
her husband and he threatened to take her kids off her
if she went ahead. I thought that was absolutely
ridiculous and was very impressed by what she was doing.
'I couldn't get it out of
my mind and when I was 30 I sent off for an application
for Surrogacy UK. It lay in the drawer for ages until I
eventually decided it was the right time to do something
about it.
'I'm very fertile and
found it easy to have my own children but I've known
people who have struggled and realise how lucky I am.
Why shouldn't I help someone else? It's a fantastic
thing.'
But she knew it wouldn't
be easy. First she discussed the plans with her own
three children Christopher, 13, Ben 11, and
seven-year-old daughter Frankie.
Their reaction helped
convince her that it would work. She said: 'I explained
it in terms they would understand and they were quite
happy. It was like water off a duck's back.
'Later, when they'd met
Alison and Brian, they became very close to them and
regard them as friends of the family.
'They're very close to
Daniel, as well. He's actually their half brother but
they did not realise that.
'They know I gave birth to
Daniel but they understand that he is Alison and Brian's
baby and basically has nothing to do with any of us.
They all look on him as a close cousin.'
Without the surrogacy
link, Jackie's path would never have crossed with Alison
and Brian's.
The young professional
couple live in Glasgow, while Jackie is based in Wishaw.
Brian runs his own
business, while Alison is a former teacher. Jackie is a
single parent and full-time mum.
But there was an immediate
click between them and just weeks after their first
meeting, Jackie was pregnant with their child.
She said: 'They're really
nice people, open and honest, and we had a laugh. I
always look for honesty in people and knew straight away
that they were very genuine.
'Actually getting pregnant
wasn't an issue at all. I've only had to do four
inseminations for the two babies.
'I went over to Alison and
Brian's house, had a takeaway meal and a bit of chat,
then did what we had to do. Brian does his bit and then
I get the syringe and do mine.
'They were on holiday in
Spain when I found out I was pregnant with Daniel and
couldn't wait to get back. I think they imagined they
might be able to see something.'
The birth was one of the
most powerful and emotional events of Jackie's life. But
even in the throws of labour she says it never felt like
her own child.
And Alison was on hand to
help with the final stages of delivery and cut the
baby's cord.
Jackie said: 'I felt
ecstatic at my friends becoming a family. It was very
emotional. There wasn't a dry eye in the room.
'It felt different to when
I gave birth to my own three. I'd looked after Daniel
for nine months and now I was giving him to his mum and
dad.'
Jackie told Alison and
Brian that if they ever wanted a sibling for Daniel
she'd happily do it again.
So when they asked her
last Christmas she immediately agreed. She became
pregnant in February and the baby is due in November.
Carol O'Reilly, from
Surrogate UK, said: 'Having a second baby for the same
family is quite unusual, it's not something that happens
every day.'
But Jackie said: 'What is
nine months in my life measured against the pleasure
that a baby brings? I'm giving somebody the gift of a
life and it's just the most natural thing in the world
to me.
'Daniel has made Alison
and Brian's life complete. They thank me for him every
time I see them.
'There was always
something missing in their lives and their house was
quite empty.
'Now the place is filled
with toys, nappies it is just alive.
'Alison has absolutely
taken to motherhood. It's quite funny when people in the
street say that Daniel looks like her. She just says:
'Yeah, yeah'.'
Jackie is comfortable with
putting her own life on hold to produce babies for other
people.
But she gets annoyed at
the accusation that surrogate mums are only in it for
the cash the only payments she receives are expenses.
She said: 'I'm not well
off by any stretch of the imagination. I've actually had
one person ask me if I am rich now I am a surrogate.'
Contact Surrogacy UK on
www.surrogacyuk.org or call Carol O'Reilly on 01531
821889, 10am-2pm weekdays.
There have been more than
500 surrogate births in the UK since 1985.
Surrogacy is legal in the
UK, but it's illegal to advertise for a surrogate
mother. If you don't have a willing friend or relative,
Surrogacy UK will try to match you with a volunteer.
There are two types of
surrogacy Straight and Host.
Straight uses the egg of a
surrogate mother and sperm of a father artifi-cially
inseminated. It involves the surrogate giving up her own
biological child.
Host uses the eggs of the
intended mother with her husband's sperm. Chances of
success are lower but the surrogate mother is not
biologically linked to the child she's carrying. It can
cost £3000 per cycle plus £200 for counselling as well
as surrogate's expenses.
A surrogate mother's
expenses can range from £4000 to £10,000 to cover
maternity clothes and time off work.
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