Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Being the surrogate mum for Matt and James is a dream come true
most amazing moment,” Natalie says. “I’d beaten the doctors’ predictions and beaten skin cancer too to finally become a mum.”
And, after going on to have Amber, now nine, and Chloe, seven – also conceived naturally – Natalie kept her promise to help others.
She says: “I felt incredibly lucky to be a mum of three. Now I wanted to give a little bit of that luck to someone else.” She joined the organisation Surrogacy UK in March 2020 and got chatting to civil servants Matt, 35, and James, 34, from Gloucestershire, at a social event. Natalie says: “From the moment we started talking, I felt an instant connection with them.
“They married in September 2015 and had been desperate to start a family together ever since. So I offered to help them and they were thrilled.”
Matt and James went to a fertility clinic and used an anonymous egg donor. Sperm from one of the men was used and an embryo was put into Natalie’s womb in December 2022. Devastatingly, the first transfer didn’t work but a second, last Easter, was successful.
James says: “This time, Natalie found out she was pregnant.
“It was so emotional. There were tears all round. We couldn’t believe we were going to be daddies!”
As the pregnancy progressed, the dads attended all the scans and shared the whole experience.
Natalie, from Erdington, Birmingham, says: “They told me which one of them fertilised the egg, but they are not telling anyone else, as they don’t want one of them to be seen as more of a dad to Lyra than the other. They are both Lyra’s daddies and I totally understand and respect their decision.”
When Lyra was born by caesarian section at Good Hope Hospital in Birmingham, Matt and James were there, as well as Natalie’s birthing partner Rena Miras-Pye from Surrogacy UK.
Natalie says: “They were all an amazing support. Lyra was handed to Matt and James for their cuddle, and it was the most amazing thing to see.
“Lots of people say that they couldn’t have done what I did, and asked how I felt when I gave the baby away. But she wasn’t mine to ‘give away’, really – I only carried her for a pair of very dear friends.”
Natalie, who is no longer with the fathers of her own children, says her kids love James, Matt and Lyra, with whom she remains very close and spends a lot of time.
For the dads, meeting Natalie was one of the best moments of their lives.
Grateful James says: “We first met Natalie on Matt’s birthday and it was the best birthday present we could have asked for.”
Matt adds: “We talk together all the time, and Natalie is watching Lyra grow up with us. It’s a fantastic friendship and we can’t thank her enough for what she has done by giving us our daughter.”
And Natalie’s surrogacy journey will not stop here – as she has offered to carry another baby for the couple, to give Lyra a brother or sister.
She adds: “We will do that together when the time is right. I couldn’t have helped to create a nicer family and we will be friends for life.”
I felt incredibly lucky to be a mum of three. I wanted to give a bit of that luck to someone else