Zowie & Jonathan

In 2006, I met my wonderful husband, Jonathan. At the time, I had experienced the joy of parenthood as a single mum of two boys, Keaton and Martin, but Jonathan had not. In 2010, we decided to expand our family, but fertility issues arose. Having had multiple attempts at other IVF clinics and further medical interventions and surgeries, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. A radical hysterectomy and chemotherapy followed, but our dream of having a child seemed lost, as my other ovary could not be saved.

With Jonathan's unwavering support, we navigated through the toughest time of our lives. In 2020, Jonathan brought up the idea of surrogacy. We explored various agencies and fertility clinics that truly understood surrogacy. Through our research, we found hope through UK surrogacy agency COTS, connecting us with our surrogate and her incredible family, and so began our surrogacy journey.

We were initially drawn to Manchester Fertility as it was close to our surrogate, but we also soon discovered it was the surrogacy North & Midlands Centre of Excellence for surrogacy treatment. All the staff members were amazing! Everyone was kind, caring and genuine, from our Surrogacy Co-ordinator Olivia Tindall to the receptionist Jane and midwife Stacey.

The team worked well together and enjoyed their roles, which really showed and most definitely made a difference, creating a personal experience coupled with their amazing success stories and statistics. Olivia and the team made the impossible a possibility. The clinic was clean and modern, and everyone, without exception, made it a happy place.

We were then introduced to the incredible Dr Peter Kerecsenyi, an absolute expert in his field with the most welcoming and kind bedside manner. Dr Peter and the team made this experience so personal and inclusive, making us all feel positive without any promises. The egg donation team was also considerate and showed compassion and kindness throughout the process, ultimately matching us with our egg donor.

Using our donor eggs and Jonathan's sperm, we created four strong embryos, leading to our surrogate successful pregnancy after a second cycle.

On October 12th, 2023, my husband Jonathan and I, and our surrogate Sophie and her husband Ryan were present in the delivery suite for the arrival of our beautiful baby boy, Theodore. Ryan and I held Sophie’s hands throughout as she brought our precious bundle into the world. With Manchester Fertility's help we got to experience the love and joy Theodore (affectionately nicknamed Theodorable by Jonathan's dad) brought into our lives.

With gratitude, we recommend Manchester Fertility to anyone considering IVF treatment. They make miracles happen, and dreams come true.

Photography in this post courtesy of NC Hopes Photography.