Alarming rise in pensioners using surrogates to have babies - as British couple in their 70s welcome a little boy and actress uses her dead son's sperm to have a grandchild at 68

Daily Mail​

29-05-2025

Pensioner couples are turning to surrogacy to have children later in life, it has emerged - including one 68-year-old actress who used her dead son's sperm to have his daughter via surrogate.
This week, it's been reported that a British husband and wife, both aged 72, have been granted a court order to become the legal parents of a 14-month-old surrogate baby boy - despite a judge's concerns they could die before the child reaches 18.
The couple applied to the courts for a parental order in July after the baby was born six months earlier to a surrogate in California using the husband's sperm and a donor egg.
In a written judgment handed down last month in the family division of the High Court, Mrs Justice Knowles said that she had made her judgment public because it raised an 'important welfare issue and offers some advice for those who may, in future, engage in a foreign or other surrogacy arrangement'.
It is the third such case to emerge in the last year where a 'parental order' has been given to British 'intended parents' in their sixties and seventies for children born to surrogate mothers abroad.
The case comes after Spanish actress Ana Obregón became a mother at 68 after welcoming a surrogate baby conceived using her dead son's frozen sperm so that she could bring up her granddaughter.
The socialite, now 70, shocked the world when she welcomed a child in her late 60s - before later revealing the baby Anita Sandra, was actually her granddaughter and conceived using an egg donor and her late son's frozen sperm.
Meanwhile, it's becoming more common for celebrities in their 50s and beyond to welcome their first children - with notable examples including Naomi Campbell and US TV show host Andy Cohen.
She said did it to fulfil the final wishes of her son Aless Lequio, who died of cancer in 2022. He had frozen his sperm two years prior.
Meanwhile, in 2024, new figures revealed how almost 300 men aged over 50 have applied to become the legal father of a surrogate child over the past five years – and 43 of them are over 60.
Out of the total, 95 single men applied to become a parent, reflecting a growing trend in men, especially older men, having babies alone with the help of surrogates.
Since the law changed in 2019 to give single people the same surrogacy rights as a couple, there have been 2,162 applications from intended parents in England.
A total of 293 would-be fathers are over 50, both solo and in couples, according to figures released following a Freedom of Information Act application from The Mail on Sunday.
Mr and Mrs K in their 70s win right to be parents of surrogate baby
The couple in their 70s was granted a court order to become the legal parents of a 14-month-old surrogate baby boy - despite a judge's concerns they could die before the child reaches 18.
Mrs Justice Knowles said that it was an 'undeniable fact' that when the child - referred to as 'B' - started primary school, Mr and Mrs K would be both aged 76.
'Put starkly, Mr and Mrs K will both be 89 years old when B reaches his majority [18 years old],' she said.
'They have begun parenting at a time in their lives when, despite their current good health, it is foreseeable that their health will decline and that one or both of them will become seriously incapacitated or die before B reaches his majority.'
However, despite her concerns, the judge granted the parental order to give 'permanence and security' to the child's care arrangements 'in circumstances where no one else other than Mr and Mrs K seek to provide lifelong care for him'.
In the court papers, first reported by The Times, it was described how Mr and Mrs K, a 'wealthy' retired couple, decided to have a surrogate baby after their son 'A' died from cancer in 2020 shortly before he turned 27. They had conceived 'A' following several rounds of IVF.
In autumn 2022, Mr and Mrs K identified an egg donor and in early 2023 they were matched with a surrogate through a surrogacy agency in California, with 'B' then born in January last year.
The couple were in the United States at the time of the birth and returned to the UK in March 2024, with 'B' travelling on a US passport naming them as the parents.
Mr and Mrs K paid just over £151,000 to the surrogate mother and the agency, of which just £24,635 was deemed to be 'reasonably incurred' by the court, according to the judgement.
Mr and Mrs K have made provisions in their will for friends of their deceased son - a couple in their early thirties - to become 'B's' legal guardians if they die or are unable to look after the child.
The judgment adds that the couple are looking after the child with the help of a full-time nanny and that the boy was said to be in good health.
There is no legal age limit for so-called 'intended parents' in surrogacy arrangements in the UK, but campaigners have condemned the trend of older people having babies through surrogates.
Lexi Ellingsworth, co-founder at Stop Surrogacy Now UK, said this case demonstrates the 'flaws' in the current law when it comes to surrogacy arrangements in the UK.
She added: 'There are no upper age limits for commissioning parents in the UK, or for surrogate mothers, and the 'parental order pathway' would continue to allow Britons to go abroad to buy babies.
'This appalling loophole which enables people to get around our domestic ban on commercial surrogacy practices must be closed by the Government immediately.'
Surrogacy Concern founder Helen Gibson said the case was appalling and called on the Government to ban international surrogacy, which happens through commercial deals rather than the 'altruistic', not-for-profit surrogacy allowed in the UK.
Actress, 68, who used her dead son's sperm to have his daughter via surrogate
Spanish actress Ana Obregón became a mother at 68 after welcoming a baby via surrogate with her dead son's sperm.
The socialite, now 70, shocked the world when she welcomed a child in her late 60s - before later revealing the baby Anita Sandra, was actually her granddaughter and conceived using an egg donor and her late son's frozen sperm.
She said did it to fulfil the final wishes of her son Aless Lequio, who died of cancer in 2022. He had frozen his sperm two years prior.
In an announcement that stunned Spain and made international headlines, Ana told ¡Hola! Magazine: 'The girl isn't my daughter, she's my granddaughter.'
Speaking to Spanish TV in April 2025, Ana said her home is now 'full of stuffed animals and toys', adding: 'I even have a little ball pool where she makes me dive in.'
She added that picking Anita up is becoming more difficult as she grows as it hurts the grandmother's back.
Speaking of her son Aless' experience, she explained: 'We live our whole lives saying that we are eternal and nothing happens here. Suddenly, one day they tell you at 25 years old that you have an aggressive cancer.'
Aless, whose father is Alessandro Lecquio, the nephew of King Juan Carlos, died at the age of 27 - two years after he was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare type of cancer affecting the bones or the tissue around the bones.
Ana continued: 'You think, that's not what they told you when you were little. So I have many more fears [with Ana], more than when I had Aless.'
In a recent interview with ¡Hola! to mark Anita's second birthday, Ana said she had been 'dead for three years' after her son's death. However, the arrival of her granddaughter 'resurrected' her, she said.
'I know I'll never feel the happiness I had when Aless was with me again,' she told the magazine. 'That pain will never go away. You don't accept or get over the death of a child.
'You end up accepting that you'll never be able to come to terms with their departure. Fortunately, Anita now fills my days. I was dead for three years from Aless' death until Anita was born.'
Anita's arrival caused a stir in Spain where surrogacy is illegal. However, it is lawful to adopt a child who was born abroad. After she was born via a surrogate in the US, Anita was adopted by Ana and is legally her daughter.
But Ana faced criticism from those who oppose surrogacy, including Irene Montero, Spain's equality minister, who branded surrogacy as a 'form of violence against women'.
Her critical comments were echoed by Presidency Minister Felix Bolaños and Budget Minister Maria Jesus Montero. 'Women's bodies should neither be bought nor rented to satisfy anyone's desires,' Bolaños said.
But in her most recent comments, Ana dismissed those who criticised her decision to bring up her late son's child.
Naomi Campbell welcomed her daughter aged 50 and her son aged 53 via surrogate
Naomi Campbell, now 54, confirmed last year that she welcomed both her children via surrogate after becoming a mother for the first time in 2021 aged 50 and posing with the newborn on the cover of Vogue.
The supermodel shocked the world when she announced the surprise birth of her daughter, followed by a son in 2023, both of whose names the catwalk celebrity has not made public.
Naomi previously admitted that her daughter wasn't adopted before clarifying that she hadn't been pregnant herself as she discussed how much her children mean to her.
She told The Times: 'My babies are everything to me. It's made me fear for the future.'
Naomi went on to explain that she was never looking for a father for her children and is happy being 'a single mother of a single mum'.
When asked whether she used a surrogate she replied: 'I did. I hope for a better world for my children. They are 110 per cent my priority. I have to be there for them on their first day at school.'
Her daughter's arrival sparked widespread speculation that she used a surrogate, a popular approach among older celebrity mothers, because she was not spotted with an obvious baby bump in the months leading up to the birth.
Naomi also spoke of her concern that younger generations are not interested in having children and she insisted parenthood is always 'worth it', no matter how difficult the circumstances.
The supermodel shocked the world when she announced the surprise birth of her daughter (pictured together), followed by a son in 2023 , both of whose names the catwalk celebrity has not made public
She said: 'I have heard a lot of young girls saying that it is too expensive to have children and they may not want them, and I have said, "You will change your mind. You will want to be a mum"'.
'I understand economically it is tough. But my mum had nothing and she made it work. It's worth it. It is so amazing'.
Net-a-Porter founder Dame Natalie Massenet welcomed first son via a surrogate at the age of 52
Dame Natalie Sara Massenet - the journalist who formed the hugely successful luxury fashion site 'Net-a-porter' - welcomed her first son at the age of 52 in 2017.
The fashion entrepreneur, now 60, announced the happy news of Jet Everest's arrival on Instagram, revealing he'd been born with the 'most generous help' of a surrogate.
She had two daughters Isabella, and Ava, from her first marriage, but Jet is her first baby with her Swedish photographer partner Erik Torstensson, thought to now be in his 40s.
The businesswoman founded the luxury fashion site in 2000 and it was sold in 2015 for £950million with Natalie receiving a reported £100million for her stake.
The only child of an English mother and an American father, Mrs Massenet was raised in Paris and moved to Los Angeles to live with her father at the age of 11. But it was her first husband that tempted her to London where she is now based.
Mrs Massenet met her first husband Arnaud Massenet, a French hedge fund manager, at Notting Hill carnival in the early 1990s and promptly moved from Los Angeles to London to be with him. They were engaged inside a month.
Three years later, while working as a fashion editor at Tatler magazine, she had a bright idea for a website where women could find and buy their favourite luxury brand wherever they lived in the world.
Widely regarded as changing the way women shop for high-end fashion and couture items, Mrs Massenet's website has become a global phenomenon.
When she created the business from the kitchen table at her Chelsea studio flat with just two employees, online shopping was in its infancy, but the Net-a-Porter site now has millions of visitors a month.
Robert De Niro, 68, and his ex-wife who was in her 50s had their daughter via surrogate
In 2011, Robert De Niro, at the age of 68, welcomed his sixth child, Helen, through a surrogate mother with his then wife Grace Hightower De Niro, who was in her 50s.
This month, Robert, 81, walked the red carpet with his daughter Helen, now 14, and his current wife Tiffany Chen ahead of the Partir Un Jour screening during the opening ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival.
The Godfather actor's professional martial artist girlfriend Tiffany gave birth to Robert's youngest child Gia on April 6, 2023.
He also has six other other children; Drena, 57, and Raphael, 48, with his ex-wife Diahnne Abbott, Elliot, 27, and Helen, with ex-wife Grace Hightower, and twins Airyn and Julian, 29, with former girlfriend, Toukie Smith.
Earlier this year, Robert revealed he 'tries his best' to be a good father to his seven children but admits that 'family is complex'.
He told The Times that if each of his children were asked to describe him they would 'all have a different answer'.
Robert added: 'Family is so complex. I try my best (as a father), that's all. I hope they'll be happy.'
He sweetly added of spending time with his daughter Gia: 'I'm an early riser. I've got a 19-month-old baby. I spend my mornings watching [the YouTuber for toddlers] Ms Rachel with her, and I give her her bottle.'
Back in February, Robert gushed about the newest addition to his family, Gia, and the 'joy' she brings him.
'She's such an adorable baby. So sweet,' he said of his bundle of joy. '[When I] look at her, everything else goes away. So it's a great joy and relief to just be with her in the moment.'
His elder children 'all get a big kick out of her,' he explained. 'The grandkids even. She's their aunt— [and] they're about to be teenagers!' he added.
Andy Cohen, who was 50 when his son Ben was born via surrogacy
Andy Cohen welcomed his son Ben in February 2019 via surrogate at the age of 50 - after revealing how reaching the milestone birthday encouraged him to start a family before he missed the 'last exit.'
The Bravo host revealed on the Wendy Williams show previously: 'I was approaching 50 and I was thinking...is this my destiny, I'll just be hosting the show and being Andy in the city, or is there more for me.
'Family has always been incredibly important to me... I just thought this [having a baby] is in my future and now this is the last exit to doing this, so I did it,' he continued.
'I was ready. I've been Andy in the city for a longtime,' he said when Wendy told him that nights on the town will be cut to a minimum as Ben grows older. 'I was ready to be Andy on the couch, with the kid.'
In April 2022, Andy, now 56, made the surprise revelation that he had welcomed a second child, a daughter named Lucy, via surrogate.
He shared a sweet image of himself cradling the bundle of joy with the caption: 'HERE'S LUCY!!!!! Meet my daughter, Lucy Eve Cohen! She's 8 pounds 13 oz and was born at 5:13 pm in New York City!!!
'Her big brother can't wait to meet her! Thank you to my rock star surrogate (ALL surrogates are rockstars, by the way) and everyone who helped make this miracle happen. I'm so happy.'
Andy Cohen welcomed his son Ben (pictured together) in February 2019 via surrogate at the age of 50 - after revealing how reaching the milestone birthday encouraged him to start a family before he missed the 'last exit'
In 2023, Andy revealed on Amanda Hirsch's Dear Media podcast Not Skinny But Not Fat that his daughter was 'one of the first gestational surrogate babies born' in the state of New York.
Gestational surrogacy is the process when a woman, who did not provide her own egg, is hired to carry a foetus for another person or couple.
'It was illegal in the state of New York until [2020] and I helped get that law passed,' the Missouri native said.
He added: 'I wanted to have the baby in New York, or I wanted my surrogate to have the baby in New York. And so Lucy was one of the first surrogate babies born here,' Cohen explained.
'But also, it was good because it gave me a lot more time to kind of get good at it with [my four-year-old son Benjamin Allen].'
Man, 72, and dead wife named legal parents of surrogate-born son
In 2024, a 72-year-old man was granted permission in Scotland to become the legal father of a three-year-old boy, born to a surrogate in the US, despite the death of his wife.
The case, started before the wife's death and taken under the terms of the 2008 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, was heard at Edinburgh sheriff court.
In her ruling, Sheriff Wendy Sheehan said that the boy would benefit from the couple being recognised as his legal parents in the future - despite concerns over the man's age, reported The Times.
After travelling from the US with his father, the child visited the first petitioner's wife three times a week for 21 months during her time in a nursing home following a severe stroke. He reportedly came to recognise her as his mother.
The order allowed the name of the woman to be added to the boy's UK birth certificate. It would also allow the youngster - named only as Child A in the court ruling - to be able to benefit from her estate.
'[Child] A is well cared for and thriving in the care of the first petitioner. Overall, I am satisfied that the orders sought will safeguard and promote his welfare and that it is better for him that I make a parental order than that none is made,' the ruling said.
Child A was born in Oklahoma in 2020, using the first petitioner's sperm and an egg from an American donor.
The couple in Scotland were both healthy at the time, but before the boy's birth, the man's wife had a severe stroke. She was then placed in a nursing home.
'The granting of a parental order in favour of both petitioners (husband and wife) would provide him with emotional, social, practical and financial benefits,' the ruling added.