'I want ANOTHER baby' says mother of SEVEN surrogate children

But she has had a change of heart and is planning to become the most prolific surrogate mother in Britain by carrying another couple's baby for the eighth time.

Miss Hawkins, who has no children of her own, changed her mind because she started to feel broody and missed being pregnant.

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She gave birth to her last baby, Isobel, in 2006, and wants to give the child's parents another baby.

Her decision to try for her eighth baby has shocked her family, who believe multiple surrogacy is taking its toll on her mental health.

And at the age of 43, the legal secretary is finding it harder to conceive than on previous occasions.

She has already tried unsuccessfully to become a surrogate mother again for Isobel's parents.

It took her six months to conceive twins from the sperm of the 51-year-old father, but they died nine weeks into the pregnancy. She must now wait two months before she is able to try again.

"I really love being pregnant and my body is very good at it," she said. "I am very proficient at giving birth. But I still don't want children of my own, not in the slightest.

"A lot of people won't understand how I feel - but everyone's different. After seeing how happy Isobel and her parents are, I really wanted to provide them with another child so they can complete their family.

"Her parents have become my friends and I see this pregnancy as helping friends out. But this one is definitely my last. I can't keep on going for ever."

Miss Hawkins, who will be paid £12,000 when her next baby is born, says she has never been in love.

After her seventh surrogacy she planned to join a dating agency, but then agreed to be a surrogate mother again instead.

Miss Hawkins, from Brighton, was diagnosed with depression nine years ago, a year after she became a surrogate mother for the third time.

At one point she felt so miserable that she attempted suicide and she still takes medication for her condition.

But she insists that her depression was caused by events during her childhood and her battle to lose weight rather than the mental strain of carrying babies that are given away.

Miss Hawkins, who weighed almost 20 stone before she had a gastric bypass, said: "I felt so bad that I didn't want to go outside and that is when I decided life wasn't worth living.

"A lot of my family and friends are not very happy with my decision. They believe that every additional pregnancy might cause me to become depressed. They think I am missing out on life, but I am not."

Miss Hawkins is the most prolific surrogate mother currently living in Britain. Carole Horlock, from Stevenage in Hertfordshire, who is 24 weeks into her ninth surrogate pregnancy, previously held that title before moving to France two years ago.

The world of surrogacy is largely unregulated. Miss Hawkins has been put in touch with childless couples through Cots, an organisation that has 128 surrogate mothers on its books.

Couples looking for a surrogate pay Cots' fees including £850 for their first year of membership and between £100 and £150 for subsequent years.

Couples pay the surrogate mother between £10,000 and £15,000. Legally this fee can only be for expenses but the payments are widely acknowledged as compensation for the trouble of pregnancy and childbirth.