The United Kingdom's Carole Horlock, who holds the Guinness World Record for the most babies born to a surrogate mother, is reportedly "desperate" to see her own child with her husband after mistakenly giving him away.

WND said that as "the world's most prolific surrogate," Horlock have had 13 babies for others, most of them her own biological children, but were inseminated from a sperm belonging to someone else's husband. Horlock, who's second husband is named Paul, finds surrogacy as her "career."

"I am immensely proud of my surrogacy career and having 13 babies who are loved by their families. Surrogacy has brought me and the families I helped immeasurable joy, but also led to the darkest times of my life," Horlock said.

"Surrogacy is the ultimate gift that one woman can do for another. But there is a darker side when it goes wrong--the heartbreak, emotional roller-coaster and acrimony are devastating," she added.

Horlock received the Guinness World Record in October 2020 for providing surrogate babies to eight families as of October 2019 at the age of 52. Of the surrogate children she's had, one is a set of twins and another a set of triplets. Horlock has two children from a first marriage but does not have one with Paul, except the one she actually gave away.

In an interview with Mirror, Horlock narrated that she agreed to be a surrogate for a U.K.-based woman and her businessman husband in 2003. She gave birth to a baby boy in June 2004 and gave them to the couple. However, the couple told them six weeks later that there was a mix up. The couple had a DNA test and discovered the baby wasn't the husband's but rather Paul's.

"This little boy was accidentally created with an act of love between my partner and I. We didn't know it when we handed him over. We agonized over what to do, but in the end decided to let them keep him," Horlock disclosed.

Horlock said that she does not follow the advise often given to surrogate mothers that they can not have sex until they are pregnant as she found this unrealistic. She pointed out she "never promised that" she "would never have sex" though she made sure she and Paul "took precautions."

When they learned what happened, a second DNA test was conducted and it did confirm the baby boy was Paul's. Horlock recalled how "terrible" the situation was, such that she asked if the couple wanted the baby boy. She and Paul were decided if they would allow them to adopt the baby provided they would still be in constant contact. But should they don't want him, they'd go ahead and have him back.

"It was just a terrible situation for everyone. I remember repeatedly saying to the surrogacy agency, 'Do they want him?' As a surrogate you are having a baby for someone else--you don't bond, you haven't prepared for a child, in fact for nine months you are mentally distancing yourself from the baby," Horlock shared.

"The decision was immense, as this little boy was different because he was my partner's too--and we hadn't had a child together. While it was an agonizing decision, I still think it was the right one for him and his parents. I'd spent nine months believing this child was theirs and psychologically distancing myself from him. I didn't emotionally invest in the pregnancy, as it would break your heart every time you handed a child over," she continued.

However, after the boy was adopted the couple broke their agreement and they lost contact with them. Horlock is hoping to see her son one day and hopes he would want to see them, too, when he turns 18.

Children from surrogate mothers are said to suffer an identity crisis when they learn the truth about themselves. Live Action News pointed out that "surrogacy has turned children into commodities, with no consideration given to their needs or their rights." These children often feel they are "mere products, bought and sold by adults to fulfill their own desires."

According to WebMD, there are approximately 750 babies born each year in the United States from "gestational surrogacy."