Welcoming a baby is one of the most blessing moments in one’s life.
However, having a baby requires a lot of selfless act and sacrifice. Mother’s body changes, her mood changes, she should be more careful about everything, and countless changes happen in her life.
Even having one’s own baby is hard enough, there are thankfully selfless surrogate mothers who go through all of this for other people who cannot conceive.
Shaniece Sturdy was one of the youngest surrogates in the UK. She was only 21 when she tried to have a baby for parents Joanna and Steve. After she watched a documentary about surrogacy, she decided that she had the potential to help couples who are having trouble difficulty having a baby — no matter what the issue they have be having.
Not only did she lend her body for Joanna and Steve’s family, she’s a mother herself to a son, so she knows how precious and special it is to have a baby in one’s life.
As she decided to be a surrogate, she met Joanna and Steve. She said, “Even though I was only 21 and it was a huge responsibility carrying their babies, it was one of the best experiences of my life. I had no morning sickness or cravings, the whole pregnancy flew by and with the support of Joanna and Steve, it was amazing and I would recommend it to anyone.”
Joanna was truly blessed to be able to be a surrogate without any of the troubles most people experience.
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At first, Shaniece was planning to help them to have a baby. However, things didn’t go exactly as planned…
“I was only supposed to be helping the family have a brother or sister for their little girl but I ended up giving [birth to more than one]. At our first scan at just a few weeks pregnant, we were all told I was carrying twins, Joanna and Steve had already picked their twin pram.
At the 10 week scan I joked, ‘I wonder if they will find another heartbeat,’ and just minutes later, they did.”
The triplets were born at 4 pounds 2 ounces, 3 pounds 7 ounces, and 3 pounds 11 ounces when they were born. Even though they were all born safely they only could go home two weeks after their birth to make sure nothing was wrong with Joanna and Steve’s precious new family. Their names were Willow, Harrison, and Daisy.
Shaniece visits the triplets she carried to term every year to keep up with the family, because without her, Joanna and Steve would’ve had a hard time realizing their dreams of becoming parents.
During her pregnancy, she was never short of receiving questions about surrogacy and what her plans are. When asked she said…
“Throughout the pregnancy, I had all the questions about the babies directed at me, for example, birth plans, vaccinations, scan dates. I would just turn to Joanna and Steve and say, ‘what do you want to do?’ it was my body but they weren’t my babies. If the law could change so the parents could make the decisions it would make things easier on both parts.”
As she thought her family might not approve, she didn’t tell her family about her surrogacy.
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“I was only 21 at the time but I wasn’t interested in partying and drinking, I wanted to help another couple fulfill their family dream and raise Rylee properly. It really doesn’t matter how old you are, as long as you’re ready and understand the importance of what you’re doing.”
She was so happy to help Joanna and Steve to have their beautiful babies and Joanna and Steve couldn’t be more grateful for Shaniece’s help. On the triplets birthday every year, Shaniece visit them to celebrate them.