I thee bred
Surrogate mum’s joy at surviving birth... and marrying in front of ALL her babies
SURROGATE supermum Ria Pawlow beamed with pride as she walked down the aisle surrounded by children and parents who owe their happiness to her.
The woman who had two youngsters of her own before offering her services to childless couples then posed for wedding photos with a difference.
Alongside her were her kids from an earlier relationship, the son she has with wife Stacey, 30, and four children she carried for other couples.
A fifth child would later arrive – in a birth which almost cost Ria her life.
Today she tells of the joy, the tears and the scares of being a surrogate mum – and how the wedding inspired her to carry on.
Care worker Ria, 37, said: “It was the best day of my life. Seeing those beautiful miracles with their loving parents, surrounded by all my nearest and dearest.
“I’d been able to make dreams come true and now it was their time to see mine come true! My sister made a mention of them in her speech... there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.” Ria, from Havant, Portsmouth, had son Matthew, 12, and daughter Charlie, eight, before getting together with partner Stacey in 2010. They used a sperm donor And Stacey gave birth to Toby, now five. Then Ria contacted the surrogacy agency COTS and met the first couple she would help. An embryo was implanted in October 2011 and in June 2012 little Carl weighed in at 9lbs 3oz. Ria, who affectionately refers to the tots in her womb as “lodgers”, recalls: “The parents are in the delivery suite and are handed the baby first – a magical moment.
“Seeing the pure elation on their faces after years of anguish and pain is indescribable. No parent could ever be more appreciative than them.”
Ria suffered a miscarriage and four more failed embryo implants before the next tot – 9lbs 5oz baby Robert – arrived in 2014. Ria, seen left near her due date, told of “sobbing her our eyes out” as the parents finally held their boy.
The mum then agreed to help the first couple have another child. They couldn’t attend one of the scans so Ria decorated her tum with a pink bow on one side and a blue one on the other – then Skyped the couple to reveal the sex of their twins!
But there was drama when Max and Ruby were born prematurely in 2015. Stacey helped deliver the babies on the bathroom floor and they were rushed into hospital care.
They are perfectly healthy – and feature in Ria’s treasured wedding snap. It was on honeymoon that she started fertility treatment for surrogate
child No five – Daisy, born in July this year. Ria said: “While she was a healthy 8lbs 8oz, I retained my placenta, leaving me in intensive care and needing a blood transfusion. The surgeon said I was lucky not to lose my womb and need a full hysterectomy.”
Under UK law Ria isn’t allowed to take payment for being a surrogate and can only claim reasonable expenses.
But money has never been the incentive. And even the near-death experience in the summer won’t stop Ria offering her services again.
She has a star tattooed on her back for each surrogate baby and hopes there are more inkings to come.
Ria added: “I picked up the wedding picture of me surrounded by all those beautiful children and straight away I knew I had to carry on.
“Seeing that bump grow, knowing the joy it’ll bring, you can’t put a price on it. There might be a day I’ll hang up my ‘surrobump’, but while I still can I won’t stop helping create happy families.”
features@sundaymirror.co.uk Wessex Fertility helped connect Ria with her families. See wessexfertility.com/donors/surrogacy/
Seeing the elation of parents as they hold their baby is magical
RIA PAWLOW MUM WHO HAD 5 SURROGATE TOTS