Wednesday, October 14, 1998 Published at 16:34 GMT 17:34 UK
'Let them pay for babies'
The Harveys are happy with their surrogate son
Britain's first surrogate mother has attacked a review recommending tougher controls of payments in surrogacy agreements.
Kim Cotton said she is against surrogate mothers having to produce evidence of expenses incurred during pregnancy in order to get payment from childless couples.
An independent review body recommended on Wednesday that the government clamp down on such payments, which currently are only supposed to cover "reasonable expenses".
However, Ms Cotton did not think the recommendations would make much difference since expenses already covered additional payments for services.
She said it was not an ideal world and people were motivated by money.
She added that no-one was forcing the commissioning couple to pay big sums to the surrogate mother.
"There is altruism involved, but people want to pay the surrogate mother as she has done the most incredible deed for them and how else can they say thank-you than by paying the right fee."
But doctors have welcomed the review's recommendations.
"If you start paying somebody and if there is a financial inducement in the arrangement, all too often the emotional and psychological issues are not taking into account sufficiently," he said.
He said surrogacy had "major implications" for the surrogate mother, the commissioning parents and "most importantly for the child who results from surrogacy".
She also had twins in 1991 through surrogacy. She now runs a surrogacy agency COTS (Childlessness Overcome Through Surrogacy) which she established in 1988
Since its establishment, the organisation has been involved in 206 births through surrogacy.
Women are usually paid around £10,000 in expenses for carrying a baby, in order to cover lost earnings and maternity wear.
One mother who is delighted with her surrogate baby is Carol Harvey.
A surrogate mother was implanted with one of Mrs Harvey's eggs and her husband's sperm.
The couple now have a 10-month-old son.
"Being a mother is what I have always wanted to be," said Mrs Harvey.
"So to know there are people that are prepared to carry a baby for you, that there are people in the world who will do that, that is fantastic. I feel so lucky."