Meet the Aussie mum who's 'renting' out her womb

An Aussie mum who advertised her womb for ‘rent’ is now expecting for the first time as a surrogate, telling her kids the baby “is not ours to keep”.

Michelle Griffin, 26, shares Leilani, four, and Isaac, three, with her hubby Trent, but is now 13 weeks along with a bub for a couple who have struggled with fertility problems.

The professional birthing coach from Perth told Yahoo Lifestyle she has always been ‘honest’ with her kids, who are just as excited as she is about helping another family.

“We’ve always been really honest with the kids and have simply explained that a doctor has put a baby in my tummy for our friends,” she said.

“They’re very excited for them and like to check how big the baby in my belly is getting every day. They know it’s not ours to keep and are very happy for our friends.”

Michelle was inundated with messages from hopeful parents two years ago after sharing her desire to become a surrogate on Instagram.

Now her dream to carry someone else’s baby has finally come true, but it has been a very lengthy process.

“It’s been two years, countless hours of counselling, psych assessments, fertility appointments, two egg retrievals and three embryo transfers,” she told Yahoo Lifestyle.

“But we are due early April 2019 and are so excited. I’m over the moon.”

Michelle found her couple six months after posting an powerful advert that stated her womb was for ‘rent’.

“I had a lot of people reach out to me and it was difficult to read so many heartbreaking stories and to see how many people are affected by infertility,” she said.

“But I’m glad it eventually lead me to my current ‘Intended Parents’ and I’m so happy to finally be helping a couple become a family.”

The young mum fell in love with being pregnant when expecting her eldest. After giving birth to her second she realised her family was complete, but still felt a “strong desire” to carry another child.

“Becoming a mother was the greatest gift I could ever receive,” she said.

“Being lucky enough to give such a gift to another couple is the most amazing thing I could ever do.”

When the baby is born next year, Michelle plans on taking an ‘aunty’ type role in the baby’s life and said she’s good friends with the parents.

“We are now all really good friends,” she explained. “We have no set in stone ‘rules’ about how often we will see or talk to each other but like any of our other friends, I’m sure we’ll stay in touch quite regularly.”

In Australia, it is illegal for a woman to financially benefit from a surrogate pregnancy, but the donor parents are can cover the medical costs in an ‘altruistic agreement’.

“I had a lot of people question my intentions with the wording of the “womb for rent” photo, but I am definitely in no way gaining financially from this,” Michelle said.

The excited first time surrogate said the response to her news has been amazing, after telling the world she was pregnant in an adorable Instagram post captioned: “Their bun, my oven.”

“It’s been amazing to see all of their family and friends so excited,” she said. “It’s incredible how many people are affected by this and how much love there is for this baby already.”

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