Britain's most prolific surrogate mother is expecting again - and this time it's triplets

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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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