‘I was seven months pregnant with surrogate twins – and the parents changed their minds'

Devoted mum Cathleen MacKenzie, 29, from New Brunswick, Canada, wanted to help others build a family – and her shocking first experience of being a surrogate wasn’t going to stop her.

- KATE GRAHAM

Lying on the hospital bed, panic surged through me. A nurse rushed over but I couldn’t get any words out. How could I explain that I was seven months pregnant with surrogate twins and that the intended parents, living thousands of miles away, didn’t want the babies any more?

I became a mum young – I was just 17 when I had my daughter Alexandra. It wasn’t planned – I was using birth control and I’d taken the morning after pill – but after the shock wore off I knew I was going to keep her, and together with her father Josh, we became a family. We wanted to give her a sibling, and in 2010 her brother Gabriel was born. I married Josh in January 2011. I was 19 and I felt my family was complete.

Although I found getting pregnant easy, I’d watched many women in my family struggle to conceive and saw the heartbreak it caused. I wanted to help others have the children they desperately wanted.

In Canada, you’re not a surrogate for financial gain. The government strictly regulates how much you can be reimbursed, listing everything from maternity clothes to the cost of travelling to doctor’s appointments. For me, wanting to be a surrogate was just a simple, overwhelming desire to carry a child for someone who couldn’t.

At first Josh didn’t agree with the idea of surrogacy. He didn’t want me to put my body through pregnancy for someone else. So at first, in 2010, I was just browsing a surrogacy website, telling myself it was only research.

WE FELT LIKE FRIENDS

That’s where I met Anna* and Jack*. They were in their thirties, had good jobs and lived in the UK. They were desperate to be parents. They were warm and fun and I quickly felt like we were friends.