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Surrogate Grandmother
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Grandparents, they say, have it easy – all the love without all the work. But Barbara Brennan did have some extra labor with her grandchildren. This surrogate grandmother chose to carry her daughter’s twins. It’s an extraordinary story of maternal love, high-tech medicine and answered prayer. |
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SCRIPT:
When 53-year-old Barbara Brennan became pregnant, she was amazed.
Barbara Brennan / Surrogate Grandmother: “To think that I’d be pregnant again was just absolutely mind-boggling.”
Her daughter – thrilled.
Lynne Bevins / Barbara’s Daughter: “She was just as excited as we were.”
Her community – confused.
Barbara Brennan: “They would sort of wonder and I’d say, ‘Yes, I’m pregnant but they’re not my children.’”
This Tennessee hospital administrator did what her daughter could not – carry and birth her grandchildren.
Lynne Bevins: “It’s one of those things where we could never repay her.”
And then gave them to her daughter.
Barbara Brennan: “I never thought of it as giving them up. I thought of it as giving something to my daughter.”
An only child, Lynne Bevins wanted more for her son Parker. An emergency hysterectomy after his birth made carrying another child impossible. Lifelong United Methodists, the family turned to prayer.
Lynne Bevins: “I learned to have faith and to just put things in God’s hands.”
Barbara Brennan: “And it just popped into our minds very quickly that surrogacy was something we could do.”
Barbara shows scrapbook: “This is a picture of the embryos right before they were transferred into me.”
The high-tech science worked. Pryce Daly and Meredith Taylor came into the world.
Lynne to baby: “Mommy loves you.”
Lynne Bevins: “All we can do is have her be as active in our children’s lives as possible and hope that the love that they’ll show her can repay her.”
For mother and daughter, these babies are a shared labor of love.
Barbara Brennan: “When you have strong faith and you have a strong family, you can overcome obstacles that you really never thought you could.”
TAG:
Before any medical procedures were done, both families were counseled by their pastors and a health-care team. After the birth, the new family appeared on NBC’s “Today Show.”