A couple who won £32,000 in a lottery used the money to fulfil their dream of becoming parents through a surrogate mother.
Katy-Anne McGlade, a teacher, and her husband had been resigned to being childless after she had a hysterectomy in 2010 as part of treatment for cervical cancer.
Then the couple won £32,000 in the People’s Postcode Lottery in July 2014 and decided to use the money to try for a baby, using IVF and a surrogate mother, Sarah Holder, who gave birth to their son, Grayson, after the third round of IVF.
Mrs McGlade, 33, from Motherwell, Lanarkshire, said: “It has been a long few years and a difficult time since my diagnosis with cancer and my hysterectomy but it is amazing that a little boy is here and is ours.
“I didn’t even know my husband played the Postcode Lottery. Without that win we could never have [had] Grayson. And we were so happy it was Sarah carrying him.
Advertisement
“I have known her for two years now and Grayson will always know his Aunty Sarah. We were delighted that someone was prepared to do this for us.”
Ms Holder decided to become a surrogate mother after seeing her aunt struggle to have children six years ago. She signed up to Surrogacy UK in May 2015 when she was only 22. While surrogates cannot be paid, it is legal to compensate them for time off work and expenses such as transport to appointments and treatment.
The McGlades paid Ms Holder’s transport costs and the rest of their winnings were spent on IVF.
Mr McGlade, 33, who works in a bank, said: “Everything feels like it should be and we have settled into family life.
“It is just quite hard to think of a time when he wasn’t here.”