Surrogate mother gives birth to five baby boys

A woman who agreed to be a surrogate mother for a couple unable to have children has given birth to five babies, believed by doctors to be a record.

Teresa Anderson, 25, delivered the quintuplets - all boys - by Caesarean section. One of the babies was born with a defective heart but doctors said the others were doing well.

Obstetrician Dr John Elliott said: "Quintuplets are very, very difficult to carry. To do that for someone else is extraordinary." Mrs Anderson, a student nurse and a mother of two, surprised doctors by walking unaided into the delivery room at the hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. The babies were delivered within five minutes.

The babies were named Enrique, Jorge, Gabriel, Victor and Javier by their genetic parents, Luisa Gonzalez and Enrique Moreno. Mrs Anderson had agreed to carry the couple's child and was to receive $15,000 (?7,900), which she hoped would help her own family. Five embryos were implanted to boost the chances of one taking hold.

After discovering all five were developing, Mrs Anderson declined to accept payment because of the expenses the couple will face.

For Ms Gonzalez and Mr Moreno, the births came after more than a decade of trying. "We were always looking for just one," said Mr Moreno, who emigrated from Mexico 16 years ago. "If it's five, it's for a reason."

Ms Gonzalez, also from Mexico, said on seeing the first baby, Enrique, delivered: "I've been waiting for this for a long time." Javier was kept in hospital because his heart was underdeveloped. He was reported to be "stable" but surgery is the only real survival option.