A MUM has revealed how she stepped in to help her brother be a parent by giving birth to his child after having her egg fertilised by his partner's sperm.
Chapelle Cooper, 27, from Dalton, Cumbria, was desperate to give her sibling Scott Stephenson the gift of parenthood – and so helped him and partner Michael have their first child.
Little Harper Elizabeth Smith was born last Friday, 12 July, to her biological mother Chapelle who will from now on be known as her 'auntie'.
After the birth of their daughter, Scott and Matt, who live in Blackpool, took to Facebook to praise 'superhuman' Chapelle for being a willing surrogate.
They wrote: "We are blown away by the strength, heart and courage of Chapelle and will never be able to truly thank her for bringing us a little bundle. We love you more than you know."
Chapelle, who already has a daughter of her own, decided to help her brother after finding out about the difficulties and costs of adoption, or finding a surrogate.
The mum-of-two was also aware that her brother and his fiancé felt they could not trust a stranger to be the surrogate mother of their first child.
She said: "Scott and Michael were both talking about adoption and we discovered there were so many different obstacles to go through.
"Surrogacy was brought up but there was always the issue of trusting someone to do it – and it was very expensive too."
Scott and Michael, who met five years ago and got engaged in 2016, added the birth was a 'dream come true' and that becoming fathers have made the three of them 'closer than ever'.
A year after getting engaged, the couple started looking into adopting and surrogacy before Chapelle made the kind offer to donate her egg and carry the child.
"We found ourselves really protective of her throughout her pregnancy," Scott said. "We weren't going to be controlling but we are control freaks by nature."
While Harper now lives with her parents in Blackpool, Chapelle knows she will be an important feature in the little girls life as her aunt.
And Michael and Scott admit they will always be open with Harper about where she came from and Chapelle's 'most selfless and amazing gift'.
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