MOST people are able to experience the joy of parenthood naturally. But for some, the inability to have a child leads to desperation.

Our front page story today tells how one couple, living in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, became so desperate that they made arrangements to use a surrogate mother.

Their misfortune was compounded by the fact that the woman they chose to have a child for them was Samantha Cookes, who turned out to be a fraud.

Having promised to bear them a longed-for baby, she fleeced them of their savings and robbed them of their dreams of parenthood.

Cookes has clearly suffered great sadness herself, with Teesside Crown Court being told that she has been plagued by psychiatric problems since losing a child to cot death.

But her crime is a particular kind of cruelty and our thoughts are with the victims who have had to endure a heartbreaking ordeal.

Today and tomorrow, we tell their story in the hope that it highlights the dangers of surrogacy and acts as a warning to others who are desperate to have a child.

Good luck

WE are sorry to see Mark Cooper’s tenure as the manager of Darlington Football Club come to an end.

He was popular, respected and no one can question how hard he tried to bring success to the club.

He will be remembered for guiding Quakers to their first silverware in 20 years by winning the FA Trophy last season.

But the bottom line is that results this season have not been good enough and we wish chairman Raj Singh well in finding a replacement who can get the club back where it belongs – in the Football League.