SERIAL surrogate mum Jill Hawkins has given away three babies during the past seven years.

Jill, a 35-year-old legal secretary from Brighton, helps desperate, childless couples for fulfilment and a fee classed as 'expenses'.

Tonight she is the subject of a BBC documentary on the controversial subject of surrogate

motherhood.

Jill talks frankly about the trauma of handing over a baby and the financial rewards, which can total £10,000 per child in some cases.

At the end of her third pregnancy, Jill gave birth to a 9lb baby boy called Jamie, conceived by artificial insemination, after 45 minutes in labour.

The following day, in the lounge of her parent's home in Saltdean, she handed Jamie over to a couple who had struggled with infertility for six years.

Jill, who is single, said she didn't want children of her own, but found great fulfilment in helping others achieve their dream.

She said: "There has to be a bond of trust. It is still half my child. I have to really like them. For the couple the joy is about to start, but for me, I've got to go downhill a little before I get back on top."

Some mothers never meet the child again, but Jill continues to see all three babies, and regards herself as a special 'auntie' to them all.

Her mother, Brenda, a 54-year-old telephonist at Sussex University, said: "She is a very unique person. Quite apart from being extremely proud of her, it is an extremely brave thing to do."

She and her husband, Brian, 58, who works for a pine furniture company in Newhaven, fully support their daughter's actions.

Brenda said: "Jill has never wanted children of her own. I cannot see her ever having children of her own. Even as a little girl she didn't want to play with dolls. She was never that way inclined.

"But she has always had a vague desire to know what it is like to be pregnant.

"It is done through artificial insemination.

"Obviously you have got to like the couple you are helping. You have to built up a rapport with them. It is not done overnight. It can take many months."

She said expenses were covered, but declined to go into details. However, surrogate mothers are regularly paid between £5,000 and £10,000.

Brenda, who has three children, Jill, Susan and David, prefers to talk about the joy a baby brings to childless couples.

She said: "I can assure you there are hundreds of couples who now have surrogate children. The joy and pleasure it brings these people has to be seen to be believed. It is just wonderful to see. As far as the parents are concerned, these children are extremely special.

"My neighbour said to me 'I think your daughter is wonderful'. My husband's mother is 84 years old. Something like this wouldn't even have been considered when she was younger, but she is very proud of Jill."

Brenda said she and Jill met up with all three children, and their parents, two or three times a year for a big get-together and they all got on well.

Jill became a surrogate mum after contacting a voluntary organisation called COTS (Childlessness Overcome Through Surrogacy), which helps would-be parents meet potential surrogates.

COTS voluntary secretary Gena Dodd said: "Every birth means the end of years of agony for the couple."

In the past 11 years, more than 300 babies, including 21 sets of twins and two sets of triplets, have been born in this country as a result of surrogacy arrangements.

The most common conditions leading to a couple considering surrogacy are premature menopause, a hysterectomy, multiple miscarriages and a women being born without a womb.

However, there is alarm in Government health circles about surrogacy, fuelled by a row in 1997 when a mother refused to hand over the child after giving birth.

It resulted in a review of regulations, including payments.

The report, which is still being compiled, recommends that payments to surrogate mothers should be restricted by law to genuine and verifiable expenses only, but COTS fear this could result in fewer mothers coming forward.

There are also calls for agencies involved in surrogacy to be

registered.

But Brenda said: "People who say bad things about surrogacy are ignorant and don't know what they are talking about."

Surrogate Babies is on BBC1 at 9.30pm.

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