By Steve Neville
Rosanna Davison with husband Wes Qurike and their daughter Sophia
Rosanna Davison opened up about her family and their surrogacy journey on last night's Late Late Show.
The writer and her husband Wes Quirke had been on a difficult path to parenthood before their daughter Sophia was born last November.
The couple decided on going down the surrogacy route after years of fertility testing, treatment and multiple miscarriages.
Davison told the Late Late Show that it had been a difficult decision.
"The idea of a stranger carrying your child in another country was awful," she said.
"I played with the idea for a few weeks to be honest, I wasn't sure if we could go ahead with it."
She told host Ryan Tubridy that they met the surrogate shortly before Sophia's birth.
"We had met the surrogate the week before for a scan.
"She walked into the room and it's...how can you prepare yourself for meeting a stranger carrying your child?
"It was just surreal. And I held my composure until we heard the heartbeat in the scan for the first time.
"A week later, at 39 weeks, we get a call from the pregnancy co-ordinator saying 'get into the hospital, she's in labour'."
Davison said they rushed to the hospital and were present in the room for their baby's birth.
"We walked in and she was crowning. My mom was there too...she pushed me as the surrogate was pushing the baby.
"I was pushed over and Sophia came out and I was handed the scissors and I cut her cord.
How could prepare yourself for watching a stranger give birth to your child?
"It was just the most surreal, terrifying, emotional, amazing experience. I think about it every day."
Davison said she had "a big mash" of emotions on the day.
"Watching this woman, this amazing woman - I can never thank her enough - giving birth to the child, it was the moment we'd been thinking about for years and wishing for and hoping for and I was balling my eyes out.
"I just turned to our surrogate and just said 'thank you, thank you, thank you'.
"The poor girl was exhausted as you would be after giving birth.
"I think about it, as I said, every day. I can't believe we experienced it."
Last January, Davison told the Irish Examiner: "Everything seems to take twice as long with a hungry newborn to feed around the clock, but motherhood has been amazing so far."
Speaking about the birth, she said: "Watching Sophia being born and cutting her umbilical cord was the most overwhelming, emotional and terrifying experience.
"Our lives are all about her now."
