I would never use any surrogate let alone a 56 year-old woman. Health and emotional reasons. But, that's just me.

i would feel like my children were my siblings forever. i just couldn't do that. i could never use a surrogate in any way though. there are plenty of children out there that need to be adopted.

This is a great story and I'm glad everyone is fine. I don't think its weird to use a surrogate if you can't carry your own child, and wouldn't it be better if its a family member? The grandmother's age seemed a little risky though.

There is something creepy about this -

I understand the trust involved in wanting a family member to be my surrogate but I couldn't handle that. I wouldn't feel like it was my kid.

I would definitely adopt before going this route.....

Though my initial concern would be her age, the real issue with women's age in fertility is the older eggs causing problems... these aren't her eggs so I guess it wouldn't really be an issue. I don't know that I would personally want it to be a family member if I needed a surrogate. That being said, I think surrogate's are amazingly self-less.

not to say that surrogates havent done wonderful things for many families, it would just be too emotionally straining for me personally.

Is it just me?...I think that the fact it's the grandmother doing this is just a little bit off.

I got grossed out by seeing this on tv today.
I dont know...but the grandmother? her age? its all too much. I would never do this for children Im sorry..living knowing that I carried them, what would we tell them when they are older...uh uh.

I don't quite understand why people would go such great lengths to have children who share their genetic material. Kudos to Grandma though.

""I don't quite understand why people would go such great lengths to have children who share their genetic material. ""
imo thats a guy thing, while the woman bonds with the baby through pregnancy and rearing.
like in this case, it was important to the guy more than the woman to have the baby(s). adoption seems to naturally occur to women more than men, i know tons of female friends who want to adopt (i dont know if it will ever happen but girls say that!), while most guys are like...eh, and only feel interested if they cant' have their own with their spouse. thats a generalization, i know, just what i've heard/seen. Its interesting because the guy has the benefit of keeping his mates body 'young-looking' when he chooses adoption, but still, i think guys like to prove they have good sperm or something.

since the mother (not grandma) had already experienced pregnancy/birth, i can see why she wouldnt mind letting her mom *help*. they must be super close!!!
its an interesting point that the 'problem' with older woman having kids is mainly their eggs. so with egg freezing gaining popularity... i think woman will really have the upper hand in deciding when and with who to start a family.

This is just flat out weird. I'd rather not have any children than have my own mother surrogate my child.

ewww. How many children can say they came out of their grandmothers
vagina.

I'm shocked so many Sugar girls are opposed to this. I'm a woman and I want children of my own (and husband's), but if somehow I couldn't carry a child I would think very seriously about asking my sister or another close family member. If I couldn't carry and I didn't have good eggs then I'd look into adopting.
I have a strong desire to have a child with traits from my family and my husband's. I don't think that is strange at all.

I was looking at it from a scientific point of view. Pregnancy is draining on your calcium levels. My teeth used to hurt and my hip joints ached and I was in my 20's all 3 times!! I can't imagine the agony a 56 year-old woman would go through! Not to mention folic acid levels and potassium levels. It's extremely risky for the grandmother and the baby may suffer nutrition issues. The main reason I wouldn't use a surrogate is because I had a very strict meal plan when pregnant and I know no 'sane' woman would follow it. lol

"The main reason I wouldn't use a surrogate is because I had a very strict meal plan when pregnant and I know no 'sane' Smiling woman would follow it. lol"

That's true, I would probably turn into a stalker and ask if we could live together for 9 months!

yep. I would fear developmental problems. Not to mention the constant worrying. I'd be worn thin mentally by the time that baby was born. I understand why other women who cannot have their own children would go this route though. I can't speak for them when I have 3 naturally born/conceived children. My tubes are tied though so I've though about what to do if I got remarried and he wanted children. I considered IVF, and some people have issues with that. But you know what, I don't have that problem!!... I haven't come across a man who hasn't been a total jerk yet, so I figure I'd better just concentrate on picking a career to help some kids already born!

I'd be a surrogate for someone without a second thought. So what I think granny did was amazing.

wonderful story. a family is about love and this is certainly a testament to that. i'd di it for one of my girls if they weren't able to have their own children.

seems odd to me that so many posters here thought the "pregnant man" was just peachy but think this is "weird".

not me lickety... to me the pregnant man was a pregnant woman anyway who has created a circus act for that poor kid to follow. your choices should be yours...not inherited by an innocent child who didn't get to have a say. Why'd they have to make such a spectacle of it, other than for money. Awful.

This story initially grossed me out a bit (a lot). My mother is 60 now so obviously this couldn't/wouldn't be an option for me, but if I ever did go down this path I would be... jealous of the surrogate (my mom!) more than anything else.

I know it's a weird thing to say, but I don't think I could handle another woman, let alone someone in my family, carrying my own child. The weird emotions that go along with it would probably be more difficult for me to bear than adopting children that aren't mine biologically.

Long story short, I would probably opt for adoption over surrogacy.

I've never been in this situation. I'm too young to even think about having a baby. However, adoption has never been an option for me. I wonder if I could really ask someone in my family to be a surrogate. Pregnant man story made me sick.

I think science has gone too far with creating alternatives for having kids. Take in consideration that I'm atheist, I don't base my views on any religious ideology. This is just freaky, we have gone so far from nature...

I don't have my own kids yet, I hope to have someday. Biological or by adoption. But I don't personally have that deep desire to have biological child. There is no special need to continue my genes.

Feel free to use those alternative ways - but I would use my tax money and donations on something else.

This reminds me of Phoebe's "situation" on 'Friends'! hehe

hmm ok! I think its weird but if it works for them more power to them.

I sometimes think of using a surrogate in the future, I am extremely terrified of child birth, always have been, to the point where I feel I will die during it, yet as I get older I am more and more interested in having biological children.But who knows, i should just woman up and have them myself I am strange I know..but I dont think I would ever have my mom do it, I wouldnt think they are my kids, more like my siblings.

Having carried two children myself I could never carry any for anyone else. Its feelings that are indescribable and I couldn't imagine giving that up to someone. I would definitely recommend adoption over this any time.
Maybe its not gross but it isn't right.

That's just creepy to me!

My daughter is adopted, my son is biological (son is older). My daughter was born to a birth mother who made a counselor believe that she was not emotionally attached to my daughter at all...she perceived herself as a surrogate mother. I personally couldn't imagine carrying a child and then giving it to someone else to raise....but I'm eternally indebted to this woman who was willing to give her child to me to raise. I think the selfless act of this grandmother is something that God is smiling upon and will bless her GREATLY for!

I think it is kind of odd that the woman chose her mother to carry her child, but at the same time I kind of understand that she would want to choose a surrogate that she could trust. I think it is awesome that the grandmother was willing to do it though at her age!

wow, these comments are surprising. I guess I'm the minority thinking this is a wonderful story! I don't find anything 'weird' about surrogacy, I think it's a special thing to carry a baby for someone who for whatever reason is unable to carry it herself. that said, I would probably have reservations using a surrogate who is in her 50s.

It is quite obvious that most of you have never been in a position where you couldn't conceive a child on your own, but for some us that is an issue. I was 18 when I found out that I would not be able to have children and my mother, who was 41 at the time, said that she would be more than happy to be my surrogate if I chose to go that route. My mother is almost 50 now so I won't be taking her up on her offer (for obvious medical reasons), but that fact that she offered meant so much to me. If I choose to take the surrogate route I would much rather have a close friend or relative carry my child than have some stranger do it.

I am keeping my opinion out of this thread- this has potential to get very controversial.

I don't get why people are so obsessed with having children that share their genes. Is it just a vanity thing? To want to have little clones of yourself, so you can point and coo over how "she has mummy's eyes!" or whatever? I just don't understand why such importance is placed on sharing the same blood. I find it kind of... no, scratch that, I find it VERY selfish. I don't personally want children at all, but I know if I ever changed my mind I would definitely adopt!

Liquidskyfire, I'm quite offended. I don't want a child of my own for looks, that is ridiculous. It's the possibilities of sharing common interests, personality traits, feeling a deep bond with someone you helped create.

adoption is not so easy. some of the posters here make it sound as though once you make the decision to adopt; boom the baby arrives. it's expensive, birth mothers change their mind, who can adopt is limited by age in many foreign countries.

I find this really creepy, and not touching at all. I would never EVER want my mother birthing my children. That is not something I would want to tell my kids.

Well said FlamesofJune. It's one of the most wonderful things about being a woman to be able to have a child and give birth. It's a human nature for people to want to have their own biological children, and someone calling that 'selfish' is ignorant.

I find this creepy and unnecessary.

I wasn't going to post because I felt it was too controversial, but now I feel like I have to. So many people are on here saying how this is wonderful and a miracle and a selfless act, well I really have to disagree. I am not religious by any means, but to me this is the least natural thing possible. I understand they looked into adoption and decided against it, but to me this was extremely selfish on their part. The woman already has two children of her own. This is weird, disgusting and completely unnatural. I find this in no way "wonderful" or "touching".

Beyond creepy. Just adopt a kid, for crying out loud.

"adoption is not so easy."
Having your senior mother carry your baby isn't easy either.

" It's the possibilities of sharing common interests, personality traits, feeling a deep bond with someone you helped create."
This exact statement could be used to describe a relationship with an adopted child. A child who isn't yours can have common interests, personality traits and a deep bond to you because YOU are raising, developing, and creating, the person they'll grow into. I'm going to have to agree with liquid that I think a big part of it is that people want to see what their own offspring would look like. That isn't necessarily wrong, I've wondered the same thing. But when are you crossing a line with that desire? When have you taken it too far?
Okay, I'm done posting a bunch of times in a row now! =D

Why . . . adopted, use someone else. Why your mother . . . I love my mom to death but that is disgusting not a miracle if you ask me.

Also not because you give birth to a child that does not make you a mother. I know many woman who don't have kids of their own but based on how they treat other people children you wouldn't know the different. Last weekend my husband and I went to his friend weeding and one of the little girls that was taking part in the weeding I help to get her dress and did her hair and she was soooooooooo sweet and because I took so go care of her everyone thought she was my daughter and that was my first time meeting her.

it's really amazing to see how medical technology has changed over the years and that something like this could be done. it's really the ultimate gift that you could give to your kids- some how helping them have children.

"It's a human nature for people to want to have their own biological children, and someone calling that 'selfish' is ignorant." No, VanillaJ, it's ignorant to call someone ignorant for expressing the belief that it's wholly self-centered to treat having biological children as an entitlement in an overpopulated world. It's ignorant to not know the definition of the word selfish. The definition, by the way, is "concerned primarily with one's own interests." Which is exactly what this was, a self-interested act. THE WORLD IS CROWDED, VanillaJ. We don't need to do this Frankenstein crap to create more people when there are too many people for the available resources as is. Before you call others ignorant you need to substantially broaden your world view. People need to think beyond their individual desires. Animals act purely on desire, I expect more from humans. The fact that you WANT something doesn't mean you're entitled to it. And don't talk about nature and biology, VanillaJ, when there was nothing natural about this. Praise for this story is ridiculous.