AFTER selling her story for thousands of pounds, a single mother who is pregnant with octuplets confirmed yesterday she hopes to give birth to all of them and rejected medical advice that six of the embryos should be aborted.
Ms Mandy Allwood (31), from Solihull, West Midlands, who is now in hiding at the News of the World's expense, told the newspaper she was "deliriously happy" and that she wanted "nature to take its course". Clearly aware of her unique position, Ms Allwood immediately hired Mr Max Clifford, the PR agent, on learning of her pregnancy.
"I know that some people will call us irresponsible but as far as I am concerned the more the merrier," she said.
However, medical experts have warned Ms Allwood - who became pregnant naturally after receiving fertility treatment at a private hospital - that there are no cases of octuplets surviving for more than a few days, and advised her to selectively abort several of the foetuses to improve the chances of survival for the others.
But Mr Clifford insisted that his client wanted to have all eight babies despite the risks and that he had already started approaching sponsors worldwide with a view to looking for "support worth £1 million".
"The perfect scenario for her would be to have all eight healthy babies. She is realistic, she understands the problems and is not taking anything for granted. She is getting all the best medical advice and does not want to rush into anything. But so far, so good. If it all works out the way they want, they will need a huge amount of money," he said.
Dame Jill Knight, the Conservative MP for Edgbaston, expressed her fear that Ms Allwood's judgment on the medical options and advice may be clouded by her desire to make money.
"It is extremely distasteful to learn that this young woman has started to capitalise on her predicament. Until now one has felt pity for her," she said.
The editor of the News of the World, Mr Phil Hall, said Ms Allwood had approached the newspaper as a commercial decision" and that their financial arrangement was not dependent upon how many babies, if any, she eventually has.
"It is a very happy story. She came to us because she realised the financial implications of what was happening to her. As part of that arrangement, we are paying for her to get the best medical attention in the world. We are buying her story come what may," he added.
Ms Allwood already has a five year old son from a previous marriage. Her boyfriend, Mr Paul Hudson (37), said he supported her stance because aborting any of the foetuses would be "too horrific" to contemplate.
"We are going to be one very big family. Mandy and I are so much in love. Our eight babies were obviously meant to be," he added.