Surrogate motherhood is still frowned upon by many members of the population, researchers have found.

Surrogate motherhood is still frowned upon by many members of the population, researchers have found.

A survey conducted among 187 women drawn from the general population found only 17 who were willing to become surrogate mothers.

Eight said they could imagine being genetic surrogates, which would entail having their own eggs fertilised by the intended father's sperm. Nine accepted the idea of gestational surrogacy, and incubating an embryo conceived by another couple.

Women who were unsure about surrogate motherhood were less likely to have had children, according to the research.

Both those with positive and negative attitudes to surrogacy were more likely to have had them.

Women who thought that parenthood was very important were more likely to consider helping others to become parents, the survey showed.

Professor van den Akker, from Middlesex University in Hendon, who led the research, said: "We need to do further research with larger numbers, to enable us to see whether the attitudes we found translate into actual behaviour."