Carole Horlock gave birth to a baby in 2004. in June Six weeks after the birth, a DNA test was performed on the baby, and it was revealed that the baby was Carole’s and her husband Paul’s.
Carole Horlock is the world’s most prolific surrogate, having given birth to 13 babies for other people. However, there is one child she wants to see again: the boy who is the son of herself and her husband. Carole gave birth to a baby in June 2004, believing it to be another couple’s child, born from her egg fertilized by another man’s sperm.
Six weeks after the birth, the couple took a DNA test and found that the baby was Carole’s and her husband Paul’s. Carole and Paul agreed to put him up for adoption anyway. Carole does not regret this decision, but she is very sorry that she lost contact with the couple who raised her son. The woman says that she thinks about her son constantly.
Now Carole hopes her son will want to meet her.
Carole, whose achievement was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records, says, “I am incredibly proud of my career as a surrogate mother and the fact that I have given birth to 13 babies who have grown up with loving parents.”
“Surrogacy has brought me and the families I have helped immeasurable joy, but it has also led to some of the darkest times of my life. Surrogacy is the greatest gift one woman can give to another. However, there is a downside to this. It’s heartbreak and an emotional roller coaster ride.”
Unfortunately, that was the case with her ninth surrogate baby. She says, “This little boy was created through an act of love between my partner and me. We thought for a long time about what to do, but in the end, we decided to let the customers keep it. People have asked, ‘How can you give this baby away when it’s yours?’ but most of the surrogates I’ve given away were mine biologically. The difference is that he was also my husband’s child. We never stopped thinking about him. We live on the belief that he knows about us and will want to see us when he turns 18.”
In 2003, Carole agreed to become a surrogate mother for a woman who lived in the UK.
Carole’s intended parents were overjoyed when she discovered she was pregnant. This couple was present when the ultrasound was done and during the birth. After that, Carole spent a week with them. However, six weeks later, the baby’s enraged adoptive father called the surrogacy agency and said a DNA test showed the baby was not his. The second test confirmed this.
Carole says, “It was just horrible for all of us. I remember telling the surrogacy agency over and over: Do they want him? As a surrogate mother, you give birth to someone else’s baby, and within nine months, you become psychologically detached from the baby.”
Paul, now 69, is Carole’s second husband. They had no children together, although both had children from previous relationships. Carole, who has two daughters, says: “We had an honest and open debate about whether we would keep him or give him up for adoption. In the end, Paul made a decision. He said: “If the couple doesn’t want a baby, we’ll raise the boy ourselves, and if they still love and care about him, we’ll keep him.”
“It was a difficult decision because this boy was different. He was not only mine but also my partner, with whom we did not have a child in common. It was a difficult decision, but I believe it was the right one. I spent nine months believing the child was theirs and psychologically distancing myself from him. I wasn’t emotionally involved in the pregnancy because it would break my heart every time I gave the baby to another couple.”
Carole says she is very sorry that the relationship with her son’s adoptive parents has ended. She keeps in touch with almost all the couples she has given birth to. The woman hopes that sooner or later she and Paul will be able to see their son. “We think about him all the time. Paul has a heart condition, and it would break his heart to never see his son.”
