A woman who used her cousin as a surrogate mother to carry her twin daughter shas been told she is not 
entitled to maternity rights and is calling for a change to the law.
The woman, Jane Kassim, was born without a womb and her cousin agreed to act as a surrogate, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph.
The cousin, Amy Bellamy, gave birth by Caesarean section to two children and Jane, who is the genetic mother, discovered wasn’t entitled to maternity leave or the statutory pay.
Women who adopt children are entitled to these payments and time off.
Jane’s local MP John Healey is campaigning in Westminster to give mothers of children born through surrogacy the same entitlement as others. The twins were conceived through IVF treatment and were born last month in Rotherham General Hospital.
Jane’s cousin Amy agreed to become a surrogate after learning that Jane, 40 and her husband Adis were looking into private surgery and IVF.
Mr Healey, Labour MP for Wentworth and Dearne said: “I wasn’t aware that mothers whose children are born through surrogacy aren’t entitled to maternity rights until Jane contacted me.
“There are probably about 100 children born in this country each year by surrogate mums . The number is growing, society is changing and the law needs to catch up.
“Maternity rights are there to help mothers and their newly born babies through the earliest months of the child’s life, when time together is most needed.
“Mums whose babies are born through surrogates need this support just like any other new mother. I want to introduce legislation to close the legal loophole that means such mums don’t have these rights like those giving birth themselves or adopting automatically have.”
The issue reached the European Court of Justice recently when a woman who had a baby through a surrogate sued her employer, alleging sex and maternity discrimination.
She asked the court to decide whether British laws comply with European Union directives, which could force a change in the rules. The court is expected to make a decision later this year.