Three women, one man create baby using surrogacy and egg donation

They are divided by geography and share no family link.
But Claire Horner, Cheryl Richards and Cathy Sidaway are united by a very special bond: they have joined forces to have a baby. After battling breast cancer three times, Mrs Horner's dearest wish was to have a baby brother or sister for her four-year-old son, Jack.

But doctors warned her and husband Dennis that she should not fall pregnant again as it could raise the risk of the cancer returning. So in a remarkable case Miss Sidaway donated her eggs, which were fertilised using Mr Horner's sperm and Mrs Richards agreed to act as a surrogate to carry the baby.

Now Mrs Richards is more than 12 weeks pregnant, in what is thought to be a British fertility care first. Consultant gynaecologist and fertility specialist Mark Sedler, who is handling the case, said: 'It is the first time that we have had a situation like this where all parties know each other, yet are unrelated to each other, and there has been a successful ongoing pregnancy.'

Part-time magistrate and nursing sister Mrs Horner was just 37 when she was diagnosed with cancer after discovering a lump in her breast while on holiday with her husband, now 49. She underwent surgery to remove the lump, but the cancer returned for a second time a year later. At the time the couple, who live in Richmond, Surrey, were undergoing IVF treatment to start a family of their own but had to put their plans on hold.

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