Britain’s most prolific surrogate mum is ‘risking her life’ by planning babies number 16 and 17 at the age of FIFTY
BRITAIN'S most prolific surrogate mum is hoping to give birth to her 16th and 17th babies at the age of 50 - and even though she's been told by doctors it could kill her.
In January, The Sun reported that Carole Horlock had been warned she had to end her time as a surrogate because her body couldn't cope with pregnancy anymore.
She had given birth to 15 kids - 13 as a surrogate and two of her own - and it meant she was more prone to complications.
At the time it was thought she'd quit, but now Carole - who will be 50 this week - is trying for her 16th and 17th children.
She had two embryos implanted at a Greek clinic this week, travelling to the country for the procedure as she knew UK doctors wouldn't do it. She will know if she's been successful in seven days.
"Doctors in the UK have told me I shouldn’t get pregnant again as I’m risking my life," she .
Carole is trying to get pregnant for a couple in England.
Not everyone agrees with her being a surrogate tough, and Carole has faced abuse from people who call her "evil"; for giving the babies away.
Others just don't understand why she's such a pregnancy fan.
Carole made the decision to try for more surrogate babies because of her age - 50 tends to be the limit for IVF in Europe.
This means it's "now or never" for the mum.
She was approached by the couple two years ago, and it's been a rocky road. The pair had been through devastating miscarriages, and then fell pregnant before IVF but lost the baby.
At this time Carole was already helping another couple, but she also had a miscarriage.
It made her wonder if she should stop surrogacy.
"Even though my IVF clinicians said I had the best uterus in the world, I didn’t feel I could continue as a surrogate," she said.
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"[But] my mind was made up after I rubbed a friend’s very pregnant belly and felt, ‘Oh, I really want to be pregnant one last time.'
"If I do become pregnant at 50, I’ll become Britain’s oldest commercial surrogate and if it’s twins it will be my third multiple birth – I’ve previously had a set of twins and a set of triplets."
Although carrying three babies seems overwhelming for many women, that was actually Carole's favourite pregnancy.
"It was also the toughest as I lost two teeth, got terrible varicose veins and I was the size of a house!"; she laughed.
Carole first became a surrogate in 1995 because she wanted to help childless couples.
It's not always been an easy ride for the mum though.
In 2004, she gave birth to a little boy for one couple but six weeks later it was discovered that biologically he was Carole and her partner Paul's.
The pair made the difficult decision to have him adopted by the couple.