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By Miranda Wood The Age November 23, 2003

Lisa Banfield holds ultrasound pictures of the twins taken at the end of October. Picture: Fionalee Quimby

It has been six years in the making but Lisa Banfield's determination to have a child has finally been rewarded.

The Sydney sales executive and her husband, John, are expecting not one but two babies in early May.

The couple's surrogate mother in the US, Krisy Prelewicz, is nearly 15 weeks into the pregnancy and Mrs Banfield's Californian fertility doctor, Bradford Kolb, says the twins are "growing beautifully".

But after previous, unsuccessful attempts to have children, the Banfields' excitement is tinged with a little caution.

"We have kept it so quiet, only a few friends have just found out," Mrs Banfield said, "because when it goes wrong, the emotional energy required to communicate with all the people you've told the initial joyous news to is so energy-sapping.

"John is relieved and he's excited. As he says to me, 'You will be the most loving, organised mum'."

The twins are the product of the Banfields' embryos, created at IVF Australia in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

Mr Banfield escorted four embryos to the fertility clinic in Los Angeles in August after receiving a special permit from Customs Minister Chris Ellison.

About a week later, Ms Prelewicz was impregnated and Dr Kolb, from the Huntington Reproductive Centre, has been keeping the Sydney couple up to date with ultrasound scans, emails and phone calls.

And despite not having the ability to carry the twins because of her battle with cervical cancer, Mrs Banfield is not unlike any other expectant, first-time mother.

She stares in awe at a video showing one of the twins kicking its legs and is relieved when a monitor displays a strong, healthy heartbeat for both babies.

"Krisy said she feels them doing somersaults, she feels them moving around," Mrs Banfield said.

"All we have to worry about now is that they grow. All the important digestive bibs and bobs are formed and now they just have to get bigger. They have to eat lots and grow and we hope one doesn't get greedy.

"Luckily they are in their own placentas and they have their own stomping ground."

The Banfields are preparing for their new additions with a recent shopping expedition for a family car. "It's a monumental thing," Mrs Banfield said. "So we're actually looking at practical family cars now instead of having a car that's great for mountain bikes, and John's swish BMW.

"All these things that most pregnant people do and start to plan for we have held back from because it's something we don't want to jinx."

Ms Prelewicz, already a mother of two young children, will be paid $A27,600 by the Banfields when she has the twins. Overall, the Banfields have outlaid $A250,000 to make their dream of having a family become a reality.

Mrs Banfield, 37, will fly to Los Angeles in January for the 20-week scan to learn the sex of the twins and to check on Ms Prelewicz. "I think it will be the cartwheel-and-champagne stage around the 20-week mark," she said.

She will then return to the US with her mother a month before the birth, renting an apartment in Ms Prelewicz's home town of Lancaster, California.

Ms Prelewicz, 36, said in August that she had wanted to be a surrogate mother since she was 20. She said: "I call myself the incubator or the oven. I always think, 'Well, your oven's broke and you're trying to bake a cake. Come over and use my oven and when it's done, I'll give you your cake.' "

Mrs Banfield has quit her job and the couple will auction their home of five years on December 6. "This house has got great memories but it's a place where most of the hard work happened and I just want a change," she said.

She has experienced immense pain in the past, starting in 1996 when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer, undergoing a hysterectomy.

This was after a New Zealand specialist twice failed to properly treat her pre-cancerous cells detected during a routine Pap smear. He was later struck off.

The Banfields moved to Sydney in 1998 and months later her cancer returned. She lost the ability to produce eggs because of the effects of chemotherapy and radiation.

Her desire for children continued throughout her treatment and in 2000 she made the first of six failed attempts to have a baby using a girlfriend's womb, her sister's eggs and Mr Banfield's sperm.

The Banfields then set their sights on finding a surrogate mother through the Centre for Surrogate Parenting in Los Angeles.

Then, late last year, Mrs Banfield's ovaries miraculously started producing eggs.

However, on top of undergoing a painful operation to remove her eggs and organising the transport of her embryos, Mrs Banfield still had to contend with the Australian Government. Eight working days before she was due to fly to Los Angeles in March the Government introduced a one-year ban on embryo exports.

She lobbied MPs and won a new amendment, nicknamed the "Banfield clause", exempting her from the regulation.

Reflecting on the past six years, Mrs Banfield said she was proud of winning her battle with cancer and sharing with her husband the commitment to starting a family. "This is all I wanted," she said.

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