Two families from the UK told an unusual story about how the wife of one friend was very helpful to the second. It all started when 33-year-old Kelly Bullock and her 35-year-old husband Paul found out they could no longer have children.
Kelly and Paul have been together for 15 years and have been married for seven years. In 2013, they had a son, Brody, but the circumstances of his birth are rather tragic. Kelly was diagnosed with symphysis – inflammation of the fibrous tissue of the pelvis, accompanied by a divergence of the pubic bones. The disease turned out to be so severe that the woman had to spend almost the entire pregnancy in a wheelchair.
Doctors assumed that after giving birth, Kelly’s body would return to normal, but this did not happen: she still suffers from pain in the pelvic area. Of course, the birth of a second child was out of the question – it would chain the woman to a wheelchair forever. But Paul and Kelly were devastated because they dreamed of a brother or sister for Brody.
Having learned about the sad forecast, Paul invited his school friend and peer Mark Bott to drink a couple of beers. The men got drunk and Paul shared his problem with Mark. In addition, he said that Kelly is desperate and begins to think about surrogacy.
Returning home, Mark told his wife Kim about the sad news. The couple already had two children – five-year-old Penny and three-year-old Scarlett – and the 32-year-old girl decided that after two successful and easy pregnancies, it would not cost her anything to give birth to another baby – this time for the Bullock family.
According to Kim, the idea came to her by itself.
It all started with a pint of alcohol. Our husbands talked about it – that’s all.
Upon learning that the couple was thinking about finding someone to carry a baby for them, Kim almost immediately thought of herself.
I just said, “I could do it.” Just. And the husband is like, “Well, yes.”
At first, Mark and Kim were just joking about it, but then Kim became interested in the issue and started reading about surrogacy: how it’s done and what it’s all about.
A few weeks later, I said, “You know what? I could really do it.”
At first, Kim was afraid that her husband would take it the wrong way.
I asked him how he would feel about me carrying his best friend’s baby. But he said, “If you want it, do it.”
After that, Kim called Kelly for a walk and announced her desire.
She burst into tears and said, “God, I can’t believe you thought about it.” And I said: “I can give birth, I’m pretty good at it, let me give birth to your child.”
Remembering this day, Kelly is ready to burst into tears every time.
She told me, “I don’t want you to think that I’m interfering in your business, but I would.” At that moment I was feeding her little daughter, and I just cried. It was so unusual, I did not expect this at all. She has a heart of gold.
The couples chose the Manchester Fertility Clinic. Kelly’s eggs were taken three times for artificial insemination. Two attempts were unsuccessful – and each cost about two thousand pounds. But on the third time, Kim finally got pregnant.
Kim came to every appointment with the doctors with Kelly and Paul. But Mark did not want to become attached to someone else’s child, so he never accompanied her.
Mark looked at it this way: my friends will have a child, but it grows inside my wife.
Kim herself says that she immediately tuned in to the fact that the baby inside her did not belong to her, so she did not feel a parental connection with him.
I was glad that I was carrying Riley, I was proud, but he was never my child. And I didn’t get attached to him.
At the birth of Kim, the real parents of the baby were also present.
He came into the world and I thought, “God, he looks like Paul. This is not my child! Not mine!
Kelly thought watching another woman give birth to her son would be weird. But it went better than she expected.
When he showed up, we were all crying. It was so emotional. I hated my pregnancy, it was just awful, but this time I found out how everything should be.
Riley was born in April 2018, but his parents didn’t receive the paperwork proving he was their son until December. However, they are still considered his legal guardians, and Kim and Mark are listed as mother and father on the birth certificate, although they are not genetically.
The families are very close now, and Riley and Brody are almost like brothers to Scarlett and Penny.
Kelly still can’t get over her gratitude to Kim.
On Riley’s first birthday, Kim sat with us, looked at everyone and said, “It’s all because of me.” And so it is
