Suzie Kozisek has gone all out for her daughter. ABC reports that the 53-year old Iowa grandma gave birth to twins for her daughter, Ashley Larkin. Larkin has pulmonary hypertension, which prevents her from getting pregnant. But Kozisek was able to be a gestational carrier for her son-in-law and daughter.
For a gestational pregnancy to take place, the sperm and egg of the couple must be harvested and united by in vitro fertilization. Once joined, they are planted in the surrogate mother’s uterus. Larkin calls her new twins “miracles.” But this isn’t the first time her mother has done this.
Ashley and her husband Jay also have a 2-year old daughter that came from the same process. The embryos for the twins were kept in storage from October 2010 until November 2012.Then they were implanted into the grandmother’s uterus.The grandma gave birth to twins Hallee and Hadlee three weeks ago , according to GlobalGazette.com .
Kozisek described both pregnancies as “uneventful.” She even worked at her job as a legal secretary for the duration of the pregnancy. Dr. Jani Janssen, the Mayo Clinic fertility doctor who did the in vitro fertilizations said that such a smooth pregnancy is uncommon. After discussions with various other Mayo Clinic doctors, Janssen approved the procedure.
The grandmother mentioned to ABC that she heard about the procedure on a talk show. “I just wanted them to have the chance to be parents,” Kozisek told CafeMom.com . Ashley was present at the birth, which went off with no complications.
This is a refreshing turn from celebrity baby stories that seem to mindlessly grip the psyche of our nation at times. Even when the baby isn’t born here, it still seems to generate a great deal of hoopla. Now a grandma giving birth to twins is a story that would be worth all the attention.
photo credit: Jeff Heinz, The Globe Gazette
