About A Boy

For Toni Street and Sophie Braggins, bringing baby Lachlan into the world was a long, often emotional process. The best friends open up about the hard times and the joy of the surrogacy journey.

- Phoebe Watt

When Toni Street and Sophie Braggins are told to cuddle up for a photo, Toni instinctively goes to place a hand on her friend’s belly.“Wait, we can’t do the baby bump thing any more!” she laughs. “What are you even going to write about that, like, ‘She cradles her abs?’”There is, after all, no evidence by looking at Sophie that a little more than a year ago, she was in a studio like this one, for a story like this one, and six months pregnant with Toni’s baby. There is, however, plenty of evidence that said baby exists. Instead of the calm and serenity that described the previous shoot, today’s vibe is decidedly more hectic. Against the hum of a wind machine and the pop of a flashbulb, Toni’s four-year-old daughter Mackenzie – who arrived wearing a tiny ballgown and sparkly gold boots – is stomping around in a pair of lilac Mi Piaci mules, size 38. Adding to the cacophony is the rhythmic thud of a rubber ball on a concrete floor, being bounced over and over for the pleasure of baby Lachie by his beloved nanny Kate. He giggles and gurgles in response, enchanting the dozen or so adults that in amongst all of this activity, are trying to do their jobs.