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Britain's most prolific surrogate mother is expecting again - and this time it's triplets
Last updated at 08:37am on 06.09.07After eight surrogate pregnancies in little more than a decade, you might think that Carole Horlock would have tired of giving birth.
But Britain's most prolific surrogate mother is expecting again - and this time it's triplets.
Miss Horlock, who will be 41 next month, is eight weeks into the pregnancy for a married woman left infertile after cancer.
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Carole Horlockwith the surrogate son she had in 2004
She has already had nine babies for childless couples, including one set of twins, and has had two daughters of her own.
Yesterday she spoke of her pride at the prospect of taking her total of made-to-order babies into double figures.
"I get a real and genuine pleasure from helping couples who can't conceive naturally," she said.
"For me, it is a wonderful experience.
"I like being pregnant.
"I can become pregnant very easily and I don't have a problem handing the babies over after they are born."
But Miss Horlock's experiences since her first surrogacy agreement in 1995 have not all been positive.
Her father barely speaks to her.
As she usually uses her own eggs - which she artificially inseminates herself with the father's sperm - he is distressed that she is effectively giving away his grandchildren.
And although she has good relationships with most of the couples she has helped, she has had a falling out with the last couple whose son she gave birth to in June 2004.
She believed she had successfully inseminated herself with the husband's sperm, but discovered - to the horror of all concerned - that she had in fact become pregnant by her partner of nine years, mechanic Paul Brown, 50.
She said: "We had taken precautions but something went wrong.
"It was an extremely difficult time but there was no way that I would have gone back on the agreement and demanded the baby back.
"The couple were very angry but they went ahead with the adoption.
"Legally, Paul and I could have taken the baby back, but we had already decided we don't want any more children and it would not have been fair on the couple."
There have also been accusations that she is motivated by greed and that she has made in the region of £50,000.
But she insists there is little left after expenses for maternity clothes, food, travel and vitamins.
She points out that the sum is hardly a huge amount considering she has been almost continually pregnant for the past 12 years.
After the problems following her last pregnancy, Miss Horlock might have considered giving up surrogacy.
But she did not want her "rent-a-womb" career to end on a sour note and agreed to have a baby for a Greek couple in their thirties, who are both teachers.
The wife had a hysterectomy two years ago following cancer.
She can still produce eggs but she cannot carry a baby.
Miss Horlock became pregnant using embryos created from the woman's eggs and her husband's sperm after having IVF in Greece.
It is the first time she has used IVF to become pregnant.
The news that she is carrying triplets came as a shock and she is bracing herself for her most difficult pregnancy yet.
She said: "I had twins about ten years ago and that was quite difficult. I'm expecting these three to be a bit of a challenge."
She said the Greek couple were "a little taken aback" when she told them she was carrying triplets, but were delighted nonetheless.
She added: "Not long ago they thought they would never have children at all.
"Now they're having three so they see it as a triple blessing.
"They knew that IVF always carries a high chance of multiple births so it wasn't a complete shock.
"It'll be hard work for them but they will cherish them all.'
Miss Horlock said this pregnancy could finally be the last.
"There's a strong possibility I will have a caesarean birth and that would take 18 months to recover from, by which time I will be almost 44," she said.
"I will have to see how I feel."
Miss Horlock, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, moved to a fourbedroom farmhouse near Bordeaux, France, two years ago.
She has two children of her own, Steffanie, 16, from her first marriage, and 13-year-old Megan from a subsequent relationship.
Her present partner also has a child from a previous relationship.
Her first surrogate baby, a boy, was born in December 1995, followed by five girls including twins.
A second boy was born in January 2002, followed by a girl in April 2003 and a third boy in June 2004.
She remains good friends with two of the couples and often visits them and their children, who know she is their surrogate mother.
Most of the other parents send a photo of the child with a letter once a year.
"When I see the children, I don't think they are my babies, it is like seeing a friend's children," she said.
"I have never had a problem handing the babies over. I don't see them as my babies and I don't get emotionally attached to them during the pregnancy."
Surrogacy is still a controversial issue in Britain, especially as surrogate mothers are routinely paid "pregnancy expenses" by the couples they carry children for.
Actual payment is illegal, but it is not unusual for surrogates to make more than £10,000 a time.
Miss Horlock admits she could make a lot of money if she had babies for wealthy couples, but she says all the parents she has helped have been "ordinary couples".
"I do it to help people - and they pay me what they can afford," she said.
"I'm not a martyr, though.
"What people forget is that, emotionally, I get a lot out of this too.
"Surrogacy has made me a much more confident and fulfilled person."
j.mills@dailymail.co.uk
Reader views (9)
please could u give me some advice im 14 weeks pregnant for my friend but we seem to keep coming to dead ends as to what happens after the baby is born. we have tried everywhere but no one seems to know what way we have to go legally thanks
- Stacey, leicester uk
I would like to congratulate anyone who is a surrogate. I myself am working on my 4th surrogacy. I love seeing the families I have helped hold their child for the first time. It is the best feeling in the world to me. So, congrats to all surrogates keep up the good work.
- Penny, Riverside, U.S.A.
I think that it is a wonderful gift to share! If you are a woman who has the ability to have children naturally easily, and can make that emotional seperation, in order to give another woman, who cannot carry a baby, the chance to experience the wonderment of motherhood, you are giving a priceless gift. One that no one should ever condemn you for taking payment for. I have a son, but have just been told that it will be against medical advise for me to go through another pregnancy. That news has came as a hard blow to me. I treasure my son more than anything and I am very grateful for my one healthy beautiful child that God granted me, but I still want at least one more, whether we have to adopt or do surrogacy. Surrogacy being a first choice of mine in hopes of using my eggs and my husband's sperm. But I applaud what you have done. Having all these pregnancies for other woman is amazing.
- Tia, Tennessee, USA
As someone who has suffered infertility for 15 years before my twins, and is going to be a surrogate in the near future, I can only echo what Cybermintz has said. Surrogacy is a gift from one woman to another. It's not easy and we appreciate support, not criticism.
Unhelpful comments usually come from those who have little or no understanding of what it is like to dream of having a family and be unable to have one. They are also often from people who have had their children easily.
I have learned to take no notice of those people - Those who haven't walked in my shoes have no right to speak negatively of IVF/infertility/surrogacy.
Thankfully the responses I have personally received have been amazing. I have tremendous support and only 1 person has thought I am selfish. I struggle to see how!
BTW any payment to a surrogate is for expenses that the mother would have to pay for herself anyway. ie Maternity clothes, life insurance for the duration in case the worst happens and the surrogates children are left without their mother, vitamins, clinic visit expenses, ante-natel exercise classes/swimming etc.. A surrogate should not be out of pocket for helping her couple in the same way as you would not want a friend to be out of pocket financially for helping you.
- Jennifer, Berkshire, England
I trust you haven't had children then, Chris, seeing as you're so opposed to bringing more children into the world? Shame, you are missing out. Fortunately for surrogate parents the world over, they don't have to share your idiotic ideals.
- Leah, Hull
How is she selfish by making others happy? Our daughter was born through surrogacy and she is the best thing that has ever happened to us.
- Helen, Norwich
Chris, if you read the article she's had nine surro-babies, two kids of her own and is expecting triplets.
- Cybermintz, Cornwall, UK
Chris - what a heartless interpretation. This lady is putting herself through the most traumatic experience that a woman can endure: pregnancy and childbirth in order to bring the joy of parenthood to others who have not been blessed. I salute this great lady and wish her, her offspring and their new parents every future blessing and happiness.
- Terry Roll, London
How many children is this selfish woman going to bring into an already overcrowded world, I wonder!
- Chris, London
