Karina Ward delivered a healthy 7 lb 2 oz baby, called Sophie, for her friends Daniel Fenwick and Hilario Diogo on 20 November at the Hospital. It was the second time she had been a surrogate for the couple, having had their first child, Isabella, two years ago.
And two years before that she made history when she had twins Lydia and Luca for her best friend, Sue French, and her fiancé, Paul Cecchini, making them Jersey’s first babies born via a surrogate. She also has two children of her own, Jayden (8) and Kayla (7), with husband Tim.
Yesterday all three families met for the first time since Sophie’s birth, in what was an emotional experience for Karina when she saw all six children together.
‘I cannot put into words how special the whole journey has been,’ she said.
Karina (43), who is the subject of today’s Saturday Interview, is now retiring from surrogacy after doctors warned that her health might be affected if she were to do it again.
But she now hopes to inspire other people to consider surrogacy and is willing to offer support. She has also set up a group for local people involved in all aspects of surrogacy which meets every three months.
And Karina has called for changes to be made to surrogacy laws to bring them up to date. Jersey currently follows the UK’s laws on surrogacy.
‘The law is outdated, in that you, as the surrogate, are legally the mother of the baby when they are born and your name goes on the birth certificate. We, as surrogates, do not need that, as we know we are not their mother.
‘The parents then apply for a parental order six weeks later and that usually comes through within six to eight months.
‘We would rather see the law protecting the parents from the start.’
She added, however, that she was concerned about possible changes to the rules around paying surrogates, who in the UK currently can only receive reasonable expenses, unlike in the US, where they can be paid.
‘There has been talk lately about laws being changed to bring in payment to be allowed to UK surrogates, like they have in the US,’ she said. ‘I and other surrogates don’t understand why they would even talk about it. I don’t believe there is a surrogate either locally or in the UK who wants that part of the law changed. We do it purely for love, not for money.’
Karina, who is the secretary at St Lawrence School, said she had decided to share her story in the hope that it would inspire others.
But she stressed that she could not ‘match’ potential surrogates with families wanting a child and added: ‘It is so important you take the time to get to know each other and feel the bond that is required for this journey. If you don’t share the same beliefs and views, and build a strong connection between you all, you simply will not work well together as a team.
‘You need to know you are going to be able to talk to them about absolutely anything at any time of the day and night and you need you know that you can laugh and cry together.’
