Hi, I'm Rima. I'm 36 years old and I have been told my only option to have a baby is through surrogacy. I have been warned by my doctors that if I was to get pregnant and carry a baby, I'd put my health at serious risk and even potentially die.
You see, I was born with a serious and rare disease called primary ciliary dyskinesia. It's a mouthful of a name I know! It took me years to learn how to pronounce it let alone spell it! It's a chronic lung disease. Basically we are all born with hairs in our lungs that help us clear dirt and dust and any other nasties. My cilia hairs don't work properly which means I'm prone to infections repeatedly. I also have bronchiectasis which is sort of a consequence of having primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). I spend many hours a day looking after myself and somehow with the grace of God, I am glad to say I am stable. But if I was to take the risk of carrying my own baby, I'd lose that stability. I've been quite fortunate in my life, even with such a difficult disease. I've studied, I've gone to uni, I'm a health professional, I'm married to a lovely man and we have a home full of love, which we want to bring a child into, our child. Being told I should not conceive or bear a child naturally has been a devastating and painful process for me. But my husband and I have worked through this process. We don't want to give up on our dream of bringing a child into the world. The only way I can do this without destabilising my health is to go through surrogacy. After lots of legal advice and advice from lots of specialists. We have decided to go abroad for surrogacy. The total cost of everything will come to £50,000. We have been saving money but it feels like a never ending uphill battle. Some days I've just completely lost hope. My husband and I realised that the world is a vast place and there maybe kind and caring people who want to help us make our dreams come true. Any help that anybody could provide, we'd be eternally grateful! 🙏