US woman 61 says being surrogate was 'blessing' for her son

Cecile Eledge gave birth to her granddaughter who was imagined with eggs from the sister of her son’s partner

Us States World

By US States World A 61-year-old woman who filled in as a surrogate mother for her child and his husband has depicted her job as a “gift for her child”.

Cecile Eledge thought doctors in her home state of Nebraska would not allow her to carry a baby for the couple because of her age.

But the family rejoiced when Uma Louise Dougherty was born in an old-fashioned delivery two weeks ago at a Nebraska medical centre in Omaha.

“I wanted to do it as a gift from a mother to her son,” Cecile Eledge said.

Uma’s birth led to the family being inundated with messages on social media – most of them positive but some extremely angry and negative, Matthew Eledge said.

“People from all around the world have been  connecting,” he said. “They need to help in any capacity that they can.”

US_States_World


The family was trying to ignore the negative reactions – the people who wrongly think that Matthew had sex with his own mother to produce the baby, or who leave homophobic remarks.

Eledge and his husband, Elliott Dougherty, have battled prejudice throughout their relationship, with Eledge losing his job as a teacher at a Catholic school after the pair announced they would be married.

They were concerned that they would be denied permission to adopt a baby in their conservative home state. So they decided to try in-vitro fertilization with a donated egg and a surrogate to carry the fetus.

Dougherty’s sister, Lea Yribe, offered to donate her eggs for the IVF. The eggs were fertilized with sperm from Eledge, giving Uma genetic material from both sides of the family.

US_States_World


The men told their IVF doctor that Eledge’s mother had offered to be the surrogate – even though she was at that point 59 and had gone through menopause.

According to US States World “Matt would comically say, ‘Well my mum keeps offering but we know that’s not an option’,” Cecile Eledge said.

But after testing to make sure her body could tolerate the pregnancy, doctors went ahead with implanting the embryo.

Carl Smith, a specialist in maternal and fetal medicine at the hospital, said Cecile was healthy and fit, and looked years younger than her age. Among possible complications for older mothers are gestational diabetes and high blood pressure.

She took estrogen supplements for the first part of the pregnancy, Smith said, until the placenta holding Uma was able to make hormones of its own.

The politics of helping a gay couple and the unusual choice of a grandmother for a surrogate did not deter the team, Smith said.

“We never allowed that a second thought,” Smith said. “She was pregnant and the conditions of how she got pregnant are among her and her family.”

Post a Comment

1 Comments