A slimming club consultant weighed in with the offer of a lifetime for one of her class – to act as a surrogate mum.
Hayley Roberts was desperate to have a baby and had signed up with her local Slimming World group after being advised losing weight would help the IVF process.
Mum-of-four Sophie Bennett was the local slimming consultant and, out of the blue, stepped in to help Hayley when a previous surrogacy offer fell through unexpectedly.
Sophie’s gesture was the start of a wonderful relationship. Hayley shed 2st – but gain a 9lb 7oz bundle of joy in the shape of beautiful daughter Rosie.
The tot is now 14 weeks old and Hayley is back at the slimming classes – while Sophie is looking forward to being godmother to the child she carried.
Ecstatic Hayley tells the Sunday Mirror: “I can’t even put into words or ever give back what Sophie and given me.
“For eight years I wanted a baby and hoped my turn would come and now it has. Rosie is just everything I wanted and more. Sophie adores Rosie so much and it seemed right to ask her to be Rosie’s godmother.”
Nursery practitioner Hayley, 30, from Saltmarsh, Cornwall, was born without a womb.
She and husband Gareth decided on surrogacy, created a frozen embryo via IVF and found someone to carry their baby.
But the woman got cold feet and pulled out of the arrangement.
Hayley had joined the slimming club ahead of having eggs retrieved from her ovaries in the first round of IVF. She told Sophie, 36, that she would have to miss a few weeks during the process.
Sophie, naturally, presumed Hayley was having IVF to fall pregnant herself.
She only realised the whole story when Hayley posted on Facebook : “Knowing we have this little embryo ready to go but no one to carry it for us is just breaking my heart…”
Sophie then found Hayley’s Instagram account @ivf_got_this_surrogacy and began doing her own research.
Three months later, in September 2020, Sophie sent Hayley a message.
Hayley explains: “I thought it was going to be about Slimming World but as I read her text, I burst out crying.
“She said that being a mum meant so much to her that she wanted to help me be one too.
“I phoned Gareth, my mum and sister in tears to tell them about Sophie’s offer. I was so excited, but I’d had my hopes dashed before and I knew there was a lot to talk about. Sophie and I met up for a cuppa and I couldn’t believe how keen she was to get started! From chatting that day, I knew she was the one I wanted to carry our baby.
“I’d always liked her at Slimming World. She was so easy to get on with and I couldn’t think of anyone better to share our journey with.”
In October 2020, Hayley and Gareth had their eggs and sperm collected with a second round of IVF. By the end of the year, they had five frozen embryos – one from their first round and four from their second.
Hayley, Gareth and Sophie had counselling to make sure they were all on board and Sophie started medication to prepare her womb for the transfer in June 2021.
Hayley continues: “The three of us went to Cardiff for a spa day, then went to a clinic nearby where me and Gareth were allowed to watch the embryo transfer.
“After that we had to wait two weeks. It was the most emotional and nerve-wracking time and deep down, I thought it would take at least three attempts.
Testing whether Sophie was pregnant, Hayley, Gareth and Sophie each dipped a test stick in Sophie’s wee and put them in a box for three minutes. Hayley says: “When we opened the box and saw three positive pregnancy tests inside, we all started crying!”
A seven-week scan showed the baby’s heart was beating and Hayley began visiting Sophie every week, gifting her with care packages.
Hayley and barber shop owner Gareth, 32, who wed in April 2014, also covered her expenses. They held a gender reveal party – they were expecting a girl. The trio also attended scans and appointments together, with the nurses always addressing Hayley as Mummy.
She adds: “I felt so involved and included throughout the whole pregnancy, not just by the midwives and nurses but by Sophie too.
“As soon as she started feeling the baby kick, she was round like a shot so I could feel it too. We’re so lucky she only lived down the road. I can’t believe she was under our noses all along. When I felt that first kick, I also felt a pang of sadness. I would have loved to be able to carry a baby myself.
“But just looking at Sophie with her growing bump reminded me how lucky and grateful we were.”
Gareth and Hayley decorated the baby’s nursery in muted pinks, then held a baby shower.
Hayley says: “I’d been to so many and now it was time for mine. I’d also been the one constant at work while my colleagues all went off to have maternity leave and babies. Finally, it was my turn. I wore a mummy-to-be sash and had a photo taken holding Sophie’s bump. It was the perfect day.”
Sophie was due to be induced at 39 weeks. But doctors believed she may have gestational diabetes and she was induced a week early.
Sophie opted for a C-section so that Hayley – dressed in scrubs and holding her hand – could be present.
And neither will ever forget the moment Rosie arrived. Hayley says: “I heard a nurse say: ‘Oh my god, she’s a good size’ – and I burst into tears. It had happened so fast.
“I stood up and sobbed loudly as my baby was passed to me for the first cuddle. I just couldn’t believe she was finally in my arms, after everything we had been through.
“I cut the cord and took her out to meet Gareth in the recovery room. The first thing he said was that her cheeks looked rosy, and with that we named her Rosie. I held her next to Sophie, who was too weak to hold her. All she wanted was her tea and toast! She was absolutely brilliant the whole way through. Nothing seemed to faze her.”
Sophie and Gareth’s names are currently on Rosie’s birth certificate – but not Hayley’s.
She explains: “I have to apply for a parental order to get my name put on the birth certificate. That – and the fact legislation concerning surrogacy in the UK is outdated – were the only downsides of the surrogacy process for me, but with it under review, hopefully things will change soon.”
Sophie is delighted to have helped Hayley and Gareth.
She says: “From the moment I saw Hayley’s Facebook post about how they couldn’t find a surrogate, I knew I would be the one to carry their baby.
“It took me months to build up the courage to message with my offer, but I’m so glad I did. I became a mum at 15 and have four children. I couldn’t imagine not having that feeling of being a mum, so I wanted to give Hayley that chance too.
“Now I’m always asked the same question – how did I feel giving Rosie away? But she was never my baby.
“I wasn’t giving her away, I was giving her back.”
