Best friend's ultimate act of kindness for midwife born without a womb
Daisy Hope made a promise to best friend Georgia Barrington when the pair were 16. All these years on, she's finally set to fulfil it
Stroking her best friend's pregnant bump and marvelling at her scan pictures, midwife Georgia Barrington can barely contain her delight.
She delivered her pal Daisy Hope's daughter Emilia, three, and her services will soon be called upon again. Only this time one thing will be very different….
For she will be delivering her own biological baby, which Daisy is carrying as her surrogate - because Georgia, 28, was born without a womb. Daisy, 29, is keeping her teenage promise to lend her friend - diagnosed with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome aged 15, meaning she was born without a uterus - her womb.
Georgia, from Maidstone, Kent, says: "It was always my dream to be a mum. But I was born without a uterus, so I knew I couldn't carry my own baby. When I was diagnosed with MRKH at 15, Daisy wasn't super maternal and said, 'I'll carry your baby.' It was kind of a joke, but that promise always stuck. It felt like the end of the world at the time, when I was diagnosed. I thought 'what am I going to do?' That's what I wanted."
Daisy, who is head of a school weekend programme, adds: "I was always meant to do it. At 16 I genuinely did mean it when I offered. Now I realise how incredible it is to be a mum and if I'm able to do it, Georgia deserves it."
Friends since they were toddlers, the women now live 20 minutes drive apart and see each other every week. Incredibly close, when Daisy, of Maidstone, had Emilia in April 2022, with her partner, Oliver Millson, 30, who has a family business, Georgia was the only person she wanted as her midwife.
'I delivered Daisy's daughter. I always knew I would be the one to do it,' smiles Georgia. 'I knew the date she was being induced, so I cleared all my other clinic appointments to be there for her. Once in the delivery suite, at one point, Oliver was asleep while Daisy and I chatted – it was like we were hanging out, but with a baby on the way.'
There was talk of a caesarian, when the baby's progress was a little slow and Georgia also left for a while to take a required break. But she came back and everything was back on track in time to deliver Emilia.
'Daisy did amazingly and it was so special that I got to be a part of that day,' says Georgia. 'She told me 'you have to experience this.'' And she meant it.
'It was a magical birth," says Daisy. Just months later, over a coffee, Daisy renewed her offer to be her friend's surrogate. "Emilia was only little and we went for a coffee in Costa,' she says. "I said 'it still stands, and I want you to know I'll still carry for you.'"
With that, Georgia and her partner Lloyd Williams, a welder, started looking into how surrogacy could work and discovered they could get £5,000 NHS funding for egg collection and creation of embryos. The couple still spent £15,000 in total on IVF and had egg collection in October 2023.
After a year of counselling and health checks, in October 2024 their first egg transfer took place. The two women went to the appointment in secret, so Georgia could surprise her family if Daisy became pregnant.
Doctors implanted embryos from Georgia's extracted eggs, fertilised using Lloyd's sperm, in Daisy,'s womb. And 14 days later, her wish came true, when Daisy had a positive result.
'We were excited to tell everyone,' says Georgia. 'Daisy even had pregnancy symptoms and thought her tummy was getting bigger. But IVF treatment is quite cruel and can mimic the signs of pregnancy.
'Driving to the scan I remember seeing one magpie and thinking, 'that's not a good sign.' But going into that appointment, we were so excited.'
Sadly, the pregnancy was not to be. At their seven-week scan they were told the baby wasn't progressing normally and at nine weeks Daisy miscarried.
Georgia said: 'Finding out she had miscarried was a massive shock. We had no indication before the scan that anything was wrong. Starting the scan, the midwife had the screen facing away from us. I knew from her face something wasn't right. We were devastated.
'Daisy had to get checked over to make sure it wasn't an ectopic pregnancy – where the egg fertilises in the fallopian tube. I was terrified that I'd put her at risk of losing her fallopian tube. Luckily it wasn't that, but the whole thing was a knock back. And I've never seen Lloyd that upset.'
Daisy was really worried that her body had let everyone down. She says: 'It was a very sad day for us all. ' But Georgie and Lloyd, 31, had three viable embryos and Daisy was determined her friend would experience the joy of motherhood.
Daisy went for her second transfer on January 31, 2025 and, in February, they were all delighted to discover that Daisy was pregnant. Georgia recalls: "We were on FaceTime on day five and Emelia pulled out a box of pregnancy tests. We got carried away and she did one and we saw a faint positive line. Each day the lines got darker."
Georgia and Daisy were able to have an early scan at six weeks. "I saw a little heartbeat,' says Georgia. "It felt like 'OK, this could be happening'. The second time around was anxiety inducing after the miscarriage, but the little one was a fighter.'
Daisy's first trimester hasn't been smooth sailing, and she has had episodes of bleeding - which has been worrying for them all. "Being a midwife I know too much - I see more of the unfortunate cases than the normal person,' says Georgia, who does not want to know her baby's sex before the birth. "I've been extremely anxious."
Now 23 weeks pregnant, Daisy looks blooming and the friends feel more relaxed - and excited. Georgia says: "You can tell her tummy is getting bigger. Every little symptom she messages me.
'The response from everyone we know to the pregnancy has been so positive – from everyone. Our parents have been so excited. Daisy is like a second daughter to my mum, Emma, and she's so thrilled. Our dads are best friends, which make it even more special, too.
'My dad, Peter, called Daisy's dad, Malcolm, and said, 'your baby is carrying my grandbaby.' When I uploaded a video about it on TikTok the response was incredible, as well. Complete strangers were saying the nicest things like 'I'm crying my eyes out' and 'this is amazing.' We've even had funny comments like, 'I can't even get a text back from my best friend.''
And Daisy loves telling people that she's her best friend's surrogate. 'Every day people are 'congratulating' me and I explain it's not my baby - it's my best friend's baby,' she says. 'They're always shocked but supportive. It's been such a good thing to talk about and help educate people - from strangers to my own daughter, Emilia. It really opens a conversation on fertility, and so many more people are affected than you realise.'
Daisy also bought Georgia bond touch bracelets - so when she feels a kick she can tap her bracelet and it will buzz Georgia's so she knows. 'Still feels surreal,' says Georgia, who will be delivering her baby, which is due in October. "She's delivering, with my help, in the hospital where I work. Colleagues at work are desperate to be on the shift. They joke about 'rolling out the red carpet' for her. It's been a long time in the making. There's not going to be a dry eye in the house.'
Daisy adds: "It's going to be magic. I can't wait to see Emilia and Georgia's baby become best friends, too. If you have a loved one or someone you really cherish and you're able to do this for them, I would definitely encourage it."
Georgia adds: 'The birth plan is for all four of us - me, Daisy, Lloyd and Oliver - to, hopefully, be there. I'd be happy for any colleagues to be there, but hopefully a close friend will be helping us too. Of course, things can change, and we'll take things as they come. But if all goes to plan, I'll be there to catch the baby at the end. I can't wait.'
Daisy's partner, Oliver, says: 'Daisy told me on our very first date that this was something she would do for her friends. Now those friends are my friends, so to have the opportunity to give Georgia and Lloyd their chance to be parents was a no brainer.'
Dad-to-be Lloyd adds: 'I am so grateful to Daisy for everything she has gone through for us, and Oli too. I think it is amazing.'
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