'I became a surrogate for someone I met on Facebook'

Georgia Mears, 28, a student midwife from South Wales, already had two kids when she decided to help a stranger become a mother

- TIFFANY WALLIS

Looking at my swollen belly at my 20-week scan, a rush of happiness spread through me as the 'L sonographer whispered, "It's a boy!" As soon as I got dressed, I hid the piece of paper confirming the gender in my bag.

Gemma - the mother of the child I was carrying - was planning a gender reveal party to announce her news. A year earlier, she'd been a stranger. Now, I was doing one of the most incredible things in the world for her.

After having my own children - Charlie, now six, and Ivy, three - I felt passionate about helping another woman bring a child into the world.

It was never about the money for me. With surrogacy in the UK, you don't get paid but you can claim expenses for things such as fuel, loss of wages and childcare costs. The time just felt right.

"Go ahead," my partner of eight years, Alex, laughed when I told him my plan in June 2020. He assumed it was another of my crazy ideas. But I was serious.

Others weren't so supportive at first. "What about your own kids?" people asked. "Will they understand why you're coming home from hospital without a baby?” Even Alex began having doubts, worrying how I’d cope with handing over a baby that had grown inside me. I promised him I knew exactly what I was signing up for and he supported my decision.

HYSTERECTOMY AFTER CANCER 

While the children were asleep, I spent my evenings searching the internet for the right “intended” parents. After joining some Facebook groups, I spotted Gemma, a friend of a friend, who lived in Essex.

“Hey, we’ve got mutual friends, how random!” I typed. We spent the next 30 minutes chatting and joking. We clicked.