‘It’s overwhelming’: woman who was UK’s first surrogate closes agency as demand soars

Kim Cotton says laws, little changed since being rushed through in response to her pregnancy in 1985, are ‘dinosaur’

Much has changed since Kim Cotton became the UK’s first surrogate 40 years ago, when she was forced to flee hospital on the floor of a car under a blanket, such was the level of media frenzy around her story.

She described it as a harrowing experience, and wishes much of that surrogacy journey had been done differently. “It wasn’t the right way to do surrogacy, but it was the only thing that was offered,” she said.