Surrogate mum Amy expecting cousin Jane's twins

A WOMAN told at 15 that she could never have children is expecting twins—after her cousin offered to act as a surrogate.

Jane Kassim (30) and her husband Adis are looking forward to welcoming two new daughters at the end of next month thanks to the kindness of Amy Bellamy, who had one of Jane’s fertlised eggs implanted in her womb.

Grateful Jane said: “It’s impossible to put into words how grateful we are—Amy deserves some kind of medal.”

But selfless Amy, who has a four-year-old son, insisted: “It was just something I knew I had to do.”

It was third time lucky for Jane after two previous attempts to implant her fertilised embryo failed—and there was even more exciting news when she found out she was expecting identical twin girls.

Childhood sweethearts Jane and Adis had begun investigating the possibility of private surrogacy when they heard through Jane’s mum that Amy was prepared to act as a surrogate.

“We had found that private surrogacy would cost about £20,000,” Jane said.

“Amy was aware of my situation but when she found out that I was ready to go for IVF and looking for a surrogate, she said: ‘I’ll do it—I’ll volunteer.’

“Apparently it is something that she’s always wanted to do.”

Jane, of Clifton, said that she was told as a teenager that she would not be able conceive children as she had been born without a womb.

“I was about 25 when we first started looking into IVF and my GP referred us to the Jessop Wing in Sheffield,” she said.

Amy’s offer launched a lengthy process involving a series of tests and scans, while both women and their partners were required to go through counselling sessions.

“Eventually, I had an operation under general anaesthetic to have my eggs removed and six of them were frozen,” Jane said.

“Each time they do IVF, they defrost two and use one of them, but the first two attempts failed.

“After the second time, I was so disappointed decided I didn’t want to try again and we thought we would at least have a break from it.

“It was my husband that convinced me to give it another go last summer.”

Big-hearted Amy, who lost her father to cancer in December, explained how she had ended up offering to have Jane’s fertilised eggs implanted by IVF.

“My auntie told me about what they hoped to do so I stepped forward and said I would do it,” she said.

“It was just something I thought I had to do.”

Amy, who has a two-year son, Archie, added: “I thought if I could help them and give them the joy of what I’ve had with me son then that was what I wanted to do.”

The 26-year-old, of Hague Avenue, Rawmarsh, said that husband Stephen, whom she married last month, had been “really supportive” from the outset, adding: “He said:

‘You do what you’ve got to do and I will support you.’”

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