Surrogacy nightmare story in Closer magazine
Couple lied to surrogate about how many children they had
Surrogate desperately tried to get biological daughter back after finding out she is not being properly cared for – but is denied custody by Social Services
Surrogacy gone wrong
After her story about surrogacy gone wrong appeared in The Sun newspaper, Josie (not her real name) asked me if I could place it elsewhere. She wanted to get her story out to an even wider audience.
I was delighted to place Josie’s story as a report over two pages in Closer mag.
Josie used her own eggs to conceive a baby for a couple she met online. She and her partner already had a daughter and after reading about how surrogacy had bought joy to others, decided to help another couple.
The couple told her they didn’t have any children. In fact the woman had undergone a total hysterectomy and was desperate for a baby.
Josie was delighted when she got pregnant using the man’s sperm and it was arranged the couple would pay her £7,000 expenses over nine months.
The report in Closer
They also agreed when the baby was born, Josie could see it every week. As surrogacy agreements cannot be legally enforced everything was verbally agreed on trust.
Josie gave birth to an 8Ib baby girl. Everyone was delighted. But almost immediately Josie began to bond with the little girl and after handing her over to her new surrogate mum at the hospital, she went home devastated.
However, she told herself – as she had done during the pregnancy – that this baby was for them and not her. She was also happy she had clearly made the couple so overjoyed.
But when she met up with them a few weeks later she was shocked to see the little girl was dirty, hungry and wearing clothes that were too small.
She began worrying that the couple were not caring for the baby enough and couldn’t help texting them with her concerns.
When they said they no longer wanted contact with her, she decided she wanted to get the baby back. By now she had regretted giving her up and wanted her to be brought up with her blood sister.
She refused to sign the parental order – which would have legally signed the baby girl over to her new parents – and launched a bid for custody.
When at court it was revealed – shockingly – the couple had lied. They already had three children, all of whom had been taken into care, Josie and her husband felt sure they would get the baby back.
So they were stunned when social services intervened and refused. The social worker said as Josie had given the baby away at birth there was a lack of emotional attachment to her. The social worker also said that as Josie had photos of the new baby around the house at home, she had emotionally neglected her older daughter.
Devastated Josie appealed but the baby has now been adopted by strangers. Josie believes surrogocy should be more regulated to prevent what happened with her.
Featureworld is now working with Josie to overcome some of the legal issues which have meant she can’t be identified. Josie wants her story out there – with her real name on it and her photo – so when she is 18 her daughter can find it and see how much she loved her and how she fought for her.
Do you have a story of fertility treatment or surrogacy that hasn’t gone as planned? If you would like to warn others of the possible pitfalls, do contact me and we can discuss in confidence how to get your story out there.
