Surrogate mother shares emotional story of helping a gay couple become fathers: ‘It gave life new meaning’
Emma shares her emotional journey to becoming a surrogate mother for Aki and Kevin, a gay couple from Berkshire. (BBC Three)
A British mother said being a surrogate for a gay couple has given her life a “new meaning”.
Emma, a surrogate mother, shared her story as part of a new BBC Three documentary The Surrogates, which explores the triumphs and challenges of surrogacy in the UK. Emma is one of five women profiled in the series.
She explains how she met husbands Kevin and Aki – who live in Berkshire – on a fertility app, and agreed to help carry their child. Emma, who is a single mother to a two-year-old son Jacob, said she insists the unborn child is “not her baby” and that when the newborn arrives it will be like “giving it back to its original parents”.
Emma described how Aki, who is the baby’s other biological parent, provided the sperm, which she then used to inseminate herself. She said, according to the Daily Mail, that she felt “very low” before she met Kevin and Aki. She said she didn’t feel like she had “much meaning”, and she admitted she didn’t “want to continue with life”.
But her life took a dramatic turn when she met the couple.
“Building that connection with Kevin and Aki and the realisation of actually what I could do for them, it’s given my life a whole new meaning,” Emma said. “From the moment we found out we were pregnant, seeing the happiness in their faces, I think that has slowly healed me a little bit.”
The couple has paid Emma £7,600 in expenses for things including hospital parking, life insurance, a childminder for Jacob and even skincare.
Kevin said it was like “love at first sight” when they met Emma on the app. He said they had spent three years searching for a surrogate, adding they feel “incredibly lucky” to have found Emma.
Emma told Tyla that, even after the birth of Kevin and Aki’s daughter, she still feels close to the couple. She said she considers them uncles to Jacob.
“I do get a warm, lovely, fuzzy feeling when I think of the future for Kevin and Aki, and it’s something I’m very excited for,” Emma said.
The first three episodes of The Surrogates will be available to watch on the BBC iPlayer on Sunday (14 March) and will air on BBC One on Wednesday (17 March).
