Gay fathers left in £43,000 debt after their surrogate refused to hand over their twins

A male couple who were desperate to expand their family have been almost bankrupted by a legal battle with a surrogate who refused to hand over their twin girls unless they paid her more money.

Steven and Marc Winchester-Horscraft, of Baschurch, Shropshire, claim that while their premature twins were battling for their lives in hospital, their surrogate’s partner asked for an additional £3,000, on top of the £17,000 expenses they had already paid her.

When they refused, their surrogate reportedly texted them to say they would not be putting Steven – the biological father – on the birth certificate and refused to sign an order giving parental responsibility to him and Marc.

They claim they were banned from seeing their baby daughters while they were in intensive care, while the surrogate gave them alternative names and claimed her boyfriend was the father.

The couple took legal action and have taken out loans of up to £26,000 on top of the £17,000 they paid the mother of their little girls to cover their fees.

The girls are now living with Steven and Marc with their original names, after a DNA test confirmed Steven was the father – but the emotional trauma and financial worry has taken its toll on the couple.

Steven and Marc Winchester-Horscraft, of Baschurch, Shropshire, claim they were banned from seeing their baby daughters while they were in intensive care, while the surrogate gave them alternative names and claimed her boyfriend was the father. Pictured with their son

What are the rules on surrogacy in the UK and how do they compare to the US?

As well as adoption, surrogacy is a common option for gay men wanting to become parents.

It involves a woman carrying the child for the parents and relinquishing her parental status after the baby’s birth.

Surrogacy is legal in the UK, but the law prevents commercial arrangements, meaning it is illegal to advertise for a surrogate mother or pay her more than ‘reasonable expenses’.

Under British law, the surrogate mother is treated as the legal mother at birth and any husband or partner she has as the father.

Couples in surrogacy arrangements can apply to a court within six months of the child’s birth for a ‘parental order’ to acquire parenthood.

These extinguish the status of the surrogate mother and grant parental status to the couple. A new birth certificate can then be issued.

However courts in the UK must assess what has been paid to the surrogate mother, as part of the process.

If more than ‘reasonable expenses’ were paid, the court has to authorise the payment — but one has never before refused to authorise a payment because it would ultimately jeopardise the wellbeing of the child.

According to Brilliantbeginnings.co.uk, in the US – where commercialised surrogacy is legal – surrogate mothers can be paid $20,000 to $30,000.

In the UK, which has an ‘altruistic’ system, surrogates are paid around £12,000 to £15,000.

They are now desperately fundraising to help pay off their debts and have launched a GoFundMe page for donations.

The couple already have a son to a previous surrogate and claim they befriended their new one before they tried to get pregnant, even inviting her and her partner to their wedding.

They discovered they were expecting twin girls in April and the pregnancy was smooth sailing until their surrogate went into labour at 28 weeks in August.

The men drove three-and-a-half hours to the hospital and made it in time to see their daughters being wheeled into neonatal intensive care, where they remained for several weeks.

Steven and Marc are now desperately fundraising to help pay off their debts and have launched a GoFundMe page for donations. Pictured: one of the twins in NICU

The couple have been almost bankrupted by the legal battle with the surrogate who refused to hand over their twin girls (pictured) unless they paid her more money

They say they paid their surrogate the remainder of her pregnancy expenses at her demand – almost £17,000 in total – before she was discharged.

But then the surrogate’s partner allegedly demanded an extra £3,000, which nurses Steven and Marc could not afford after buying all the equipment for their newborns.

‘We have had to endure many legal hearings where the surrogate has said she wants to keep the twins,’ Steven explained.

‘She claimed her boyfriend was their father and registered them under completely different names to what we had chosen, and was calling them [those names] for the first six weeks of their lives.’

Both nurses, Steven and Marc have spent their lives caring for others and were desperate to have a family of their own. Pictured with their son

‘All of this has come at a huge financial burden,’ Steven said. ‘Before the first hearing our surrogate called the hospital and put a ban on us seeing our girls or knowing anything about their care.

‘Imagine not being able to know anything about your sick, premature newborn children. At this point they were extremely poorly so we did not even know if they were alive.

‘We are both nurses and have spent our working lives caring for others. I guess I am just hoping for some help from others in order to get us out of this awful situation.

Steven and Marc, pictured in 2015 with their son, told how they have been part of the surrogacy community for seven years and the process went ‘so smoothly’ when they conceived their little boy

‘Due to our surrogate’s actions we have not been able to enjoy the time we have had with our girls. Both having to try and work as much as we possibly can to break even and get us out of this downward spiral.’

Steven and Marc told how they have been part of the surrogacy community for seven years and the process went ‘so smoothly’ when they conceived their little boy, who was born in 2015.

They had matched with several surrogates over the years, and experienced miscarriages and ‘many failed attempts’ at getting pregnant – though many of their past surrogates have become ‘life-long’ friends.

They decided to go down the same route in 2018 when their son began asking for a little brother or sister, and fell pregnant in February.

The couple claim their surrogate refused to sign a parental order, handing over parental responsibility to them

Steven and Marc have taken out loans of up to £26,000 on top of the £17,000 they paid the mother of their little girls to cover their fees

‘We were absolutely overjoyed,’ Steven said. ‘Having done a previous surrogacy journey to get our son we had little concerns.

‘We did not jump into doing another journey lightly, we took our time getting to know each other and ensured this was the right decision. They became good friends of ours and we even invited then to our wedding.

‘We have been involved in the surrogacy community for over seven years so we did know what we were doing. It goes to show that even experienced people can find themselves in a difficult situation.’

They have so far raised £1,350 of their £26,000 goal. To donate to their cause, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/our-surrogacy-nightmare

Steven and Marc have so far raised £1,350 of their £26,000 goal on GoFundMe. Pictured: the twins while still in hospital