A woman who almost died after giving birth to a stillborn has had miracle twins after a stranger on social media offered to be her surrogate.
Katie Gavin was told she would "never carry a child again" after giving birth to her 39-week-old stillborn Drew, and having an emergency hysterectomy. However, the 37-year-old made sure doctors saved her ovaries and eggs before they removed her womb.
Katie posted her heart-breaking story on a Facebook page called 'Missing Piece'. Danielle Clements saw it and the pair started messaging in February 2025.
Surrogate offer from a stranger
Already a mum-of-five and step mum of two, the 36-year-old from Southampton felt a pull to help her and offered to be Katie's surrogate.
After four rounds of IVF, Danielle gave birth to their fraternal twin girls Celine and Farah on May 19 - weighing a healthy 6lb 6oz and 6lb 5oz. Now, Katie and Danielle - previously a social care worker but now a stay-at-home mum - are really close friends.
Katie, a former singer and IT consultant, from Coulsdon, Surrey, said: "They are an absolute miracle. To go through something like that and have a woman help you in that way is a miracle."
Danielle, who wanted to be a surrogate since she was a teenager, said: "I feel privileged to have been able to have done it. The reason why there are surrogates is because people can't have their own children, so it is a privilege."
A tragic birth and a plea
Katie was rushed to hospital in January 2023, when she was 38 weeks and four days pregnant with her third baby. She had an internal abruption - where the placenta separates from the uterus before delivery - but hers was "concealed" meaning it was not showing up on scans or recognised by doctors.
"When I gave birth, they called him a 'freshie' and panicked and they tried to resuscitate him," she said. "It was too late - he was therefore a stillborn."
"It was very tragic because he was 39 weeks. Absolutely nothing wrong with him - a gorgeous boy. I was 33. My son's just died, he's in my arms. And I know I'm dying because you just know."
Katie pleaded with medical staff to save her eggs before passing out as the doctors "worked" on her for four or five hours. Despite already being a mum to five-year-old Jude and four-year-old Alenna, she knew she wanted more children but said "the odds were against me".
A new friendship and a successful journey
"I never thought I would have met someone (a surrogate)," Katie explained. "I just went in blind doing IVF in the hope that there'd even be one per cent chance. I never thought it would actually come true."
Even if she did find a surrogate, the process is difficult. UK law states that whoever gives birth to a child is their legal parent, regardless of genetics. Intended parents must attend a family court and receive a parental order to gain custody.
When Katie started chatting to "super mum" Danielle, she couldn't believe her luck. "There is a group called Missing Piece on Facebook where I had posted an introduction about my story, and Danielle later posted about hers. I actually reached out to her because I loved her post and her dress and just had a feeling that we would really get on."
"We started chatting from there and got on like we had known each other for years," she added. "We were of course getting to know each other for some time before Danielle and her husband Jim came to the decision that we were going to be the lucky family they wanted to help. They changed our lives forever in the best way with the greatest gift anyone could ever give."
In June 2025, Danielle had the first transfer but the embryo wasn't strong enough, then tried again in August but had an early miscarriage. However, it was third time lucky with the embryo transfer on September 20, 2025.
Katie said: "When we underwent the first embryo transfer, we did the pregnancy test together. I wasn't strong enough the third time, so Danielle did a video of the pregnancy test and then sent it to us. We all FaceTimed in tears because it had worked."
Katie, Danielle and Sean attended pregnancy scans together, introduced each others children to each other and spoke everyday, sharing videos of her bump and chatting about their kids. Katie gave a speech at her baby shower to thank Danielle, who was also there to celebrate, for everything.
"We would all go together - and it was quite funny," she explained. "We kept getting looks like 'whose mum?' and my husband was just laughing. It was funny but amazing, the support we had. Her husband was amazing for supporting it as well."
A fairytale delivery
Danielle gave birth to the twins via C-section, which Katie described as magical and that "all four of us were there holding hands" during delivery.
Katie said: "It was something out of a fairytale, you hear horror stories but for us it was amazing. When we went into the C-section suite, Danielle and her husband Jim were there, but we all stood holding hands."
"We didn't know the sex of the babies before they were born, but as they were taken out a doctor held the babies up and Danielle announced they were girls. It was amazing, I've never experience anything like it."
She continued: "Princess Anne's Hospital were amazing throughout, they knew the arrangement, the midwives called me mum and they made exceptions so we could all be in the delivery suite," Katie added. "Danielle joked saying 'it's their seed, my garden'."
The experience has left Danielle and Katie close friends. "We're so close now," Katie said. "Danielle is going to be their godparent. It's just amazing."
"I couldn't imagine being a surrogate and not having someone that you weren't close with, or not having a relationship after. We have the same values, same morals, we enjoy the same things. Our children get along. Our husbands get along."
The twins are now home and thriving. "They're both totally different, properly polar opposites," Katie said. "Farah is more serious, she looks like a little doll and wants to be held the whole time. Celine is more smiley and giggly."
She added: "If I could give someone hope anywhere that there are these groups of lovely people that will actually help, that would be amazing."
