MY AUNTY gave birth to BABY!

Unable to carry a baby, Shelley was overjoyed when her aunty offered to help - Shelley Badea, 33

- JANE COHEN

Sitting in the doctor's office, I couldn't believe the words I was hearing.

'I'm sorry, but you will never be able to carry a child of your own,' he said.

Aged 26, I'd just been diagnosed with kidney disease after experiencing fatigue and extreme weight loss. It could be managed with exercise, a healthy diet, minimal alcohol, and by watching my cholesterol.

But the strain of carrying a baby would be too much for my kidneys.

Although single, being told I'd never be a mum was devastating.

As time passed and my friends started having babies, I was happy for them, but also felt an unbearable grief seeing them with their bubs.

Longing to hold my own baby, I felt as if nothing would fill the empty ache inside me.

It was only when I met Mario a year on from my diagnosis, that I began to smile again.

He'd caught my eye at a nightclub and, when he came to talk to me, I felt a wonderful connection. He was warm and funny, and we became inseparable.

'It took all my courage to come over and speak to you that first night, but I'm so glad I did,' Mario grinned.

Not wanting to hide anything from him, I confessed that I'd never be able to carry a baby.

'If it's meant to be, we'll find a way. But I love you and want to be with you no matter what,' Mario said.

After we got engaged a year on, we began looking into alternative ways to start a family, and came across surrogacy.

My own mum, Lynne, then 53, had undergone a hysterectomy years earlier, so she couldn't help, but I had an idea.