The siblings who became surrogates: ‘When I couldn’t carry my baby, my sister offered to give us the gift of life’

Meet the selfless sisters and friends who helped carry children for others

Emma Meagher with her sisters Victoria (left) and Laura (right). Photo: Gerry Mooney

Kirsty Blake Knox

After facing “a lot of setbacks” on the road to parenthood, TV stars Brian Dowling and his husband Arthur Gourounlian turned to Brian’s sister Aoife for help in 2019.

The idea that she act as their surrogate might have started out as a “jokey” conversation, but during the pandemic, these talks became more serious. And in May this year, Brian and Arthur announced they were pregnant, and Aoife was carrying their child.