The Sun has agreed to apologise and pay damages and legal costs over a story headlined: "Surrogate to Childless Couple: It's twins… I want £5k extra."
The surrogate mother concerned, Mandy Case, and her husband Robert, argued that the story gave the impression they had "cynically demanded an additional £5,000" from the prospective adoptive parents after realising she was expecting twins.
According to her lawyers, David Price Solicitors and Advocates: "The true position is that the surrogacy was arranged by Childlessness Overcome Through Surrogacy, a voluntary surrogacy organisation.
"The claimants and the intended parents entered into a standard surrogacy agreement before Mrs Case Apologetic Sun has agreed to pay costs and legal fees became pregnant.
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"This provided for various standard payments to the claimants including £10,000 for the surrogacy, an additional £1,500 if the child was to be born by Caesarean section and a further £3,500 in the event that Mrs Case gave birth to twins.
"Accordingly, the claimants were entitled to request a further £5,000, which was paid without dispute by the intended parents.
"The claimants were hurt and upset by the suggestion that they had taken advantage of the intended parents, which was compounded by the fact that they regarded the arrangements relating to the surrogacy as private.
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"They were not prepared to allow the article to remain unchallenged."
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