Five years ago, Irish couple Dan and Philip* had their twins through surrogacy in England, with a surrogate mother they met through a friend. Their journey towards having children wasn’t a straightforward one. The first attempt, using a known donor, wasn’t successful and, because IVF is so expensive in the UK, they decided to look further afield, eventually settling on a clinic in Cyprus that sourced an anonymous donor. After another failed attempt, their surrogate eventually became pregnant with triplets. One of the children was miscarried, and then twins, a boy and a girl, were born at 33 weeks.
“There were very hard and sad moments, but in the end our journey through the pregnancy itself was amazing,” says Dan. “We never missed a scan, and our surrogate had a brilliant relationship with us. She still sees the kids and keeps in touch; she’s like an auntie to them. She’s not their genetic mother, but we share a good relationship together.”