An Australian woman will give birth to her grandchild after her daughter was born without a womb
Maree Arnold, 54, is 30 weeks pregnant with her grandson for daughter, Meagan White, and her husband, Clayde.
Meagan was 17 when she was told she would never have a child naturally after being diagnosed with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Houser Syndrome, meaning although she had ovaries, she did not have a uterus and would therefore never have a period.
Doctors did tell her she would be able to have a biological child as she had grown ovaries but the only way the baby could be born was through surrogacy.
Meagan said she did not give much thought to her situation until she met Clayde and they knew they wanted to have a family together.
The couple sourced a Canadian woman who agreed to become their surrogate. She became pregnant soon after, but the couple was devastated to learn the baby had passed away at 21 weeks.
The pandemic put paid to them moving forward in their journey to parenthood and they felt their dreams may have come to an end.
Step forward, Maree
Meagan said: “Everyone was heartbroken after the baby died. I just felt like giving up. Then once the pandemic began, overseas travel was prohibited, so everything felt impossible.”
Maree said she volunteered after seeing how devastated her daughter was.
She was put through a lot of extensive tests, research, legal advice, psychological and physical assessments to make sure she was fit enough to carry a child at 54.
But doctors gave her the green light
The first three embryo transfers failed and the couple began to have the feeling life was against them. But a fourth attempt was successful and their little bundle of joy is due in January 2022.
Asked how it felt to be pregnant in her 50s, Maree said: “I know that I’m obviously older with this pregnancy, and I do get a bit more tired than I did when I was pregnant 22 years ago.
“But I’m still up and about, mowing the lawns and cleaning the house. I feel great.
“Everyone is so excited and I can’t wait to meet our grandson.”
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