Surrogacy

Surrogacy has been in the news again since Elton John and David Furnish’s son Zachary was born to a surrogate mum on Christmas Day. Since then we’ve had a few requests from magazines looking for surrogates, or parents who have had children through surrogacy.

It’s a topic that really interests me. I worked with a young woman last year who decided to become a surrogate after watching a documentary about women trying to conceive – she was so moved by their plight she wanted to do something to help.

And I was fascinated by the C4 documentary My Weird and Wonderful Family which aired last year and featured Tony and Barrie Drewitt-Barlow and their family. The couple broke new ground when their eldest twins were born to a surrogate in America ten years ago and it was really moving watching their journey as they tried for more babies.

Now the couple are opening a surrogacy centre in Britain to help other hopeful parents through the process.

The issue of surrogacy, whether for gay or straight parents, will no doubt continue to cause debate. But watching the documentary on the Drewitt-Barlow’s it was clear that the couple had created a happy, stable family life for their children. And that, after all, is the most important thing of all.