Would You Use A Surrogate To Have Your Baby?

These celebrities did and, due to increased awareness, the practice is more popular than ever. Polly Dunbar investigates how surrogacy went mainstream

- Polly Dunbar

When Kim Kardashian announced she had used a surrogate to carry her third baby, rumoured to be due this month, her decision sent social media commentators into a frenzy. There was speculation that the star was too posh, lazy or rich to bother with the marathon of pregnancy and childbirth, but it also put a spotlight on a practice that is becoming increasingly widespread.

In fact, Kardashian’s decision was purely medical, after she suffered with placenta accreta – a condition where the placenta attaches too deeply into the uterine wall and can lead to haemorrhaging – during her first two pregnancies. Her announcement last September came in the same month that Natalie Massenet, the founder of Net-a-Porter, became a mother for the third time at 52 when a surrogate gave birth to her son, Jet, in LA. Actresses Sarah Jessica Parker and Nicole Kidman, supermodel Tyra Banks and singer Elton John are among other A-listers who have used surrogates.

Today, surrogacy rates are rising rapidly, with 400 surrogate babies registered in Britain in 2016, almost four times the number in 2011. For couples who’ve suffered repeated miscarriages, failed IVF treatments or early menopause, a woman offering to carry a baby for them can transform their lives, giving them a child they could never otherwise have had. For gay male couples, it’s a game changer.

In the US, commercial surrogacy is legal in many states, but it can cost vast sums – Kardashian’s arrangement is thought to total almost £90,000. In Britain, by contrast, paying fees is illegal, although surrogates usually receive between £9,000 and £15,000 to cover expenses such as travel costs, childcare and maternity wear.