One future grandmother is carrying her own grandchild—all for the love of her daughter.
Julie Loving, 51, is in the third trimester of pregnancy as the gestational carrier of her daughter Breanna Lockwood’s baby.
Lockwood has been left emotionally scarred by infertility over the years. She has had an ectopic pregnancy, two miscarriages and four failed embryo transfers during the in vitro fertilization (IVF) process, Today Parents reported on Saturday, Oct. 10.
Lockwood, 29, has been chronicling her attempts to have a baby on Instagram through the account @ivf.surrogacy.diary, and these include many of the painful moments she has experienced after losing her pregnancies.
Her mom has always been there to support her, but Lockwood would refuse whenever she offered to carry her baby.
However, she and her husband warmed up to the idea of having a surrogate when a dilation and curettage—usually performed after a miscarriage—caused scar tissue in Lockwood’s uterus.
A gestational carrier costs over $100,000, but even then, Lockwood was hesitant about having her mom become pregnant for her.
Loving went with her daughter during one appointment and toward the end, she expressed her wish to carry her daughter’s baby to fertility specialist Dr. Brian Kaplan.
Kaplan was cautious about approving Loving as a carrier because of her age; a surrogate is typically advised to be below 40 years old.
Loving underwent multiple tests including a psychology exam, and saw various physicians. Thankfully, she has been in good health as a marathoner and a triathlete.
After getting the green light, Loving got pregnant with the first embryo. Coincidentally, she and her daughter got pregnant at the same time after getting an embryo transfer in February, but Lockwood had an ectopic pregnancy.
Loving told Today Parents that it so far has been a “textbook pregnancy.”
“I still have no regrets in this whole process,” she wrote on her daughter’s Instagram last Oct. 7. “Seeing my little girl happiness come back makes it all worth it.” /ra
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