A BLACKPOOL couple are looking forward to the birth of their daughter -- even though mum isn't pregnant!

Identified only as Phil, 40, and Jennifer, 37, the couple are expecting a baby girl who is being carried by best friend and surrogate mother Bronwen Williamson.

Bronwen, of Hollycarrside, Sunderland, has spoken to reporters about her delight at helping her Blackpool friends who have been trying for a baby for seven years.

The 39-year-old call centre team leader took eight months to reach her decision to go ahead, but said she was "shocked" at how quickly she became pregnant through a DIY method using a syringe containing Phil's semen.

Her husband John, also a call centre worker, fully suppors her decision and her three sons Dane, 13, Ashton, 11 and Grant, eight also backed her action.

The Blackpool couple will be at the birth of their daughter at Sunderland Royal Hospital in April. The legal paperwork allowing them to adopt her has already been completed and no money will be exchanged.

Although Bronwen will have up to six months to change her mind, she foresees no problems in parting with the baby. "All I will be thinking when I have her is how wonderful it will be to think you have done something for someone who can't have a child. That will be my reward.

"It isn't as if we won't see her again because she will be like my niece and we'll see her two or three times a year," she said. I wouldn't have a baby for just anybody."