A doting mother and her beloved daughter gave birth to sisters only weeks apart months after the mom offered to act as a gestational carrier for her daughter’s child.
Kyle and Kelsi Pierce were desperate to start their own family only to be told that the 31-year-old’s ovarian reserve was low and that she might never get pregnant.
As the couple revealed, they used up all of their savings and resorted to debts in an attempt to undergo IVF, an assistive reproductive technology procedure during which a woman’s eggs are collected from her ovaries and fertilized at a lab.point 464 |
Once an embryo forms, it can be either frozen and preserved for a later time or placed inside a woman’s uterus.point 93 | 1
While Kyle and Kelsi successfully completed a round of IVF, the 31-year-old was hit with more bad news as doctors told her that she couldn’t carry a child because her uterus lining was too thin.
Despite trying her best to resolve the matter for two years, Kelsi “just wasn’t able to do it,” whereas she was told to find a gestational carrier for her embryo or adopt a child instead.
“We had already poured more than our savings and gone into debt incredibly just for what we had done before, so it wasn’t an option. It was a very depressing time,” the 31-year-old said of the prospect of hiring a gestational carrier – a step that could cost over $100,000.
Seeing her daughter in pain, 53-year-old Lisa Rutherford eventually decided to offer to carry her daughter’s baby instead.
“When you have kids you want their life to be better, easier, more fulfilling than your life. I just thought I don’t have $100,000 to hand you, but this is what I can do to make your dream come true. It wasn’t even a question,” the doting mother said.
While the couple initially didn’t wish to consider the option due to risks associated with Kelsi’s mother’s age, they all found common ground after Lisa underwent a series of tests to prove she was ready to become a gestational carrier.
After undergoing an embryo transfer back in February, Lisa fell pregnant and shared the happy news with the couple. Just weeks later, Kelsi, who already stopped taking fertility medications, miraculously fell pregnant as well.
“After hearing bad news for three years straight and never walking out of a doctor’s appointment happy, I couldn’t believe it. I think I was crying for a month straight,” the 31-year-old admitted.
Months later, the couple rushed from Minnesota to Michigan to witness the birth of their baby after Lisa was told she would have to undergo C-section. On October 6, following a week after the birth, baby Everly was discharged from the hospital and allowed to go home with her parents.
After spending a week in Michigan, the family drove back to Minnesota where Kelsi gave birth to baby Ava just over seven weeks following the birth of Everly.
“Every time something is hard or I’m tired, I remind myself that this is my dream finally coming true. I appreciate it so much more because of how long it took and how much struggle it took,” Kelsi expressed.
Replaced!