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Best friend delivers on decade-old vow to carry child for wombless mother
Georgia Barrington, born without a womb due to a rare syndrome, has become a mother after her lifelong best friend Daisy Hope carried her daughter to term-fulfilling a promise made when they were 15.
A childhood bond tested by fate
Diagnosed at 15 with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, which affects roughly 1 in 5,000 women, Georgia Barrington learned she would never carry a pregnancy. The news shattered her, she recalls: "My whole world had fallen apart. Everything I ever dreamed of had gone."
Daisy Hope, then a teenager herself, responded with an impulsive but enduring vow: "I said I would carry a baby for her one day," she told Ready to Talk with Emma Barnett. "I don't think I understood what I was saying then-but I always knew I'd do it."
From grief to IVF: a journey of setbacks
The women began IVF in 2023. Daisy, who had since become a mother herself (with Georgia as her midwife), initially assumed the process would mirror her easy first pregnancy. But the first embryo transfer failed at seven weeks, leaving both women devastated. "I thought it was all my fault," Daisy admitted, while Georgia grappled with renewed despair.
A second attempt brought cautious hope-until Daisy began bleeding heavily at six weeks. After six hours of terror, doctors confirmed the heartbeat persisted. The pregnancy survived to full term.
The birth: "I forgot to check the sex"
When Daisy went into labor earlier than expected, Georgia was present for the delivery. Overwhelmed, she "forgot to check the sex of the baby" in the moment. "As soon as I saw the baby's head, I just lost it," she said. "We were all crying."
Now a mother, Georgia describes the experience as surreal: "I wish I could take this moment and hand it to my 15-year-old self, sitting in that GP surgery." Daisy, reflecting on their bond, added, "We've been through something so personal-no one will ever have what we have."
MRKH syndrome: a rare but life-altering condition
MRKH syndrome, which Georgia lives with, results in an absent or underdeveloped uterus. While women with the condition can produce eggs, they require surrogacy or adoption to become parents. Georgia's path-supported by her best friend's surrogacy-highlights the emotional and logistical hurdles faced by those with the diagnosis.
"The love I felt for my child was amazing, and I thought everyone should be able to have that feeling."
Daisy Hope, surrogate and Georgia's best friend
