‘I’m addicted to surrogacy’

High on gas and air, Liz Stringer catches a glimpse of her beautiful 7lb 12oz baby girl and smiles. But Liz isn't really interested in looking at baby Isabelle. Instead her gaze is fixed firmly on the tearful couple kneeling next to her. Any minute now she'll hand this newborn baby to them - forever.

But Liz doesn't mind - she's a surrogate mum, and this is the fifth baby she's given away to an infertile couple.

Liz, a cook from north Wales, admits she's addicted to the emotional rush she feels in that instant when the baby is handed to its parents for the first time.

And Isabelle's parents, John and Sharmy Beaumont, certainly didn't disappoint her. "They were overcome," recalls Liz. "They laughed and cried simultaneously. Watching them happily sobbing as they cradled their baby girl made every moment of the pregnancy and labour worthwhile."

There's no greater gift than a child. But it's still hard to grasp why Liz, 45, has sacrificed so much of her life, and that of her own two daughters, to have babies for strangers.

She's undergone eight IVF cycles and suffered sciatica, morning sickness and the agonies of five labours - not to mention having to cope with the changes the pregnancies have wrought on her body.

Despite spending nearly four years of her life pregnant, Liz gets no payment for her services, although each time she has received an undisclosed sum for expenses to cover loss of earnings, travel, childcare and maternity clothing.

Obviously, friends and family know she has been a surrogate - but few understand why.

"It's hard to explain in words," says Liz. "So I show them photographs of the parents I've helped, holding their babies for the first time. The looks on the parents' faces tell the whole story.

"I used to worry what the midwives might think - I was scared they'd judge me or think I'm a bad mum - but they've been fantastic each time."

Liz is a single mum to two teenage girls, Lindsay, 18, and Stephanie, 15. People might wonder if she uses her surrogate pregnancies and the relationships with those eternally grateful parents as a way to give her own life more meaning. But she shakes her head. "I don't think I do," she says.

So why do it? Liz's desire to be a surrogate started when she was just 20. A friend was diagnosed with cervical cancer and told she would be left infertile.

"She was devastated, and I witnessed her grief first hand," Liz says. "I vowed then that once I'd had children of my own, I'd help a childless woman have a baby."

She never forgot her vow. After she'd had her two daughters, and her marriage had broken down, she joined a surrogacy group and soon afterwards hooked up with a childless couple.

In 1997 she gave birth to baby Thomas for the pair, who had been trying to have children for 20 years.

"It helped that Thomas was a boy," admits Liz. "I'd never wanted a son, only girls, so that first experience of giving birth to a surrogate baby wasn't reminiscent of my daughters' births.

"It's a big decision to become a surrogate the first time, but after that, you're hooked. Most women who have experienced bringing such joy into other people's lives want to do it again and again."

Which is certainly true for Liz - over the past 12 years she's had another four babies. And after baby number three she decided to go 'freelance' with another surrogate, Carol O'Reilly, to set up their own non-profit organisation, Surrogacy UK, in 2004.

None of the babies she has given birth to has been genetically hers - each was created in a test tube using the egg and sperm from the childless couple. Liz had to take hormones to make sure her cycle was in sync with the mothers, then the egg was implanted into Liz's womb - she acted as a walking incubator for the babies.

Standing a statuesque 6ft tall, Liz loves being pregnant. She says, proudly, that doctors have told her she's built to have children.

"It's something I'm really good at," she says. "Seeing my stomach undulate as the baby moves is lovely.

"As a surrogate I can experience pregnancy without the responsibility of having another child. There's no chance I would have had seven of my own - two is plenty for me."

But it seems she can't stop giving birth to other people's children. She remembers each couple with fondness - and each baby too.

After Thomas there was Connie, whose mother had suffered 11 miscarriages. She was born in 2000 after four attempts.

In 2002, Liz gave birth to Henry for a woman who had lost her unborn baby in a car crash, then had to undergo an emergency hysterectomy to save her life.

Mia, whose mother was unable to hold on to a pregnancy due to a blood disorder, followed in 2004.

Although she cares for the babies, Liz says she feels no closer bond than that.

"They're not my babies, I'm just a host for their real mother," she explains simply.

She insists she doesn't have a glory complex. "The huge emotional rush I feel seeing the parents' joy is what makes it addictive," she says.

The buzz is so irresistible that Liz came out of retirement to give birth to her fifth baby, for John and Sharmy Beaumont from Surrey, in May this year.

Sharmy, 33, had been diagnosed with an underdeveloped womb and couldn't carry a baby. She got in touch with Liz through Surrogacy UK. After many meetings, Liz agreed to be their surrogate. And baby Isabelle was the result.

"I'd felt it was time to just be there for my two daughters, especially now they're in their teens," says Liz. "But there was something about Sharmy and John. They're such lovely people. I really wanted to help them have their own child."

Liz was happy for the Beaumonts to do everything possible to feel closer to their unborn baby.

Every fortnight the couple made the eight-hour round trip from their home in Surrey to spend time with Liz. They accompanied her to scans and antenatal appointments, as well as listening to Isabelle's heartbeat through a monitor.

As Liz's due date got closer, John, an accountant, and Sharmy, a medical writer, rented a cottage three miles from Liz's home in north Wales - to be sure they wouldn't miss their baby's arrival.

Opting for a home birth, Liz agreed that the couple could be with her throughout the labour.

And even after Isabelle was born, Liz's job wasn't quite done. For three months she expressed breast milk to ensure Isabelle got the healthiest possible start in life.

"The midwives said it's like liquid gold, so I wanted to express for as long as Sharmy and John needed me to," she says.

Her complete devotion to the cause is hard to take in. As well as pumping and storing breast milk every couple of hours, she met with Sharmy and John, either at her house, their house, or somewhere in between to deliver a week's worth of milk.

"I'm very lucky that I have got on well with all my couples and all the births have been lovely," she says. "They feel like extended family, people scattered about the country who I could comfortably drop in on.

"To be honest I don't have any great interest in the children, no more than those of any other friends. But the parents sometimes make the mistake of thinking I want to be updated on every little thing that happens to them."

Liz's desire to feel welcome and appreciated may be a bigger motivation than she recognises. Shortly before she became a surrogate for the first time, Liz's mother died and her marriage to the father of her children broke down.

She is estranged from her own father, unsure in fact whether he is still alive, and as the much younger sister to four half-brothers, says they aren't a close family at all.

"I grew up like an only child," explains Liz. "My brothers know what I've done and think I'm crazy having so many babies for other people.

"I mentioned to my mum before she died that I planned to be a surrogate and she thought it was a lovely idea. She would be very proud, I think. My daughters are really supportive too. To them it's just normal because they've grown up with it."

Liz's dedication to surrogacy is clear - few women would put themselves through pregnancy and childbirth for five couples they barely knew.

But despite her advancing years and the knowledge that with each pregnancy she becomes more at risk of haemorrhage, Liz is preparing to be a surrogate for a sixth time.

"I'd like to have another baby for John and Sharmy," says Liz. "I've never created a whole family before and I'm so close to them.

"After that I plan to retire but I can never say never. There are a lot of couples out there who will always need my help."

'LIZ MADE MY DREAM COME TRUE'

Sharmy Beaumont explains how it feels for another woman to carry her baby.

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"We'd always wanted a family so when we realised I wasn't able to carry a child, we were devastated. But I started researching surrogacy and found Liz on the Surrogacy UK website.

We got on well and were delighted when she agreed to be our surrogate. An agreement was drawn up and we used two of my eggs, which had been fertilised with John's sperm. This would be our baby, but Liz would carry her for me.

The day Liz told me she was pregnant, I was so excited, I turned to jelly. John and I were so happy - we could hardly believe we were actually going to be parents.

The following morning we drove to Liz's, armed with a bottle of sparkling grape juice to celebrate!

We shared every moment of Liz's pregnancy and I felt a real connection with my daughter before she was born.

It's hard to believe the overwhelming feelings of unconditional love we felt the moment we saw Isabelle. Without Liz none of this would have been possible. To have done this for us and so many others - she's an amazing woman."

'BEING A SURROGATE CAN LEAD TO LONELINESS'

Psychologist and surrogacy expert Professor Olga van den Akker of Middlesex University says it is common for the relationship with the 'commissioning couple' to dominate a surrogate's life:

"They may spend time with the couple at the expense of their family and friends and when the arrangement is over the surrogate can experience loneliness.

"It's the thrill of being in high regard that's addictive. Most surrogates say that the parents' joy when they see the baby makes everything worthwhile. But they also admit that their own happiness is tinged with sadness when they relinquish the baby."

PHOTOGRAPHY: AMIT LENNON STYLING: LUCIE CLIFFORD SHARMY WEARS: DRESS, MONSOON; SHOES, NEW LOOK JOHN WEARS: SHIRT, BURTON; JEANS AND SHOES, NEW LOOK LIZ WEARS: TOP AND JEANS, EVANS

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