Woman jumps to the aid of sister and offers to be her surrogate
Five months after her wedding, Penny Hansen was diagnosed with cancer while she was five weeks pregnant. In an extraordinary gesture, Penny’s sister offered to be her surrogate and is helping her sister’s family grow.
Health
Don't miss out on the headlines from Health. Followed categories will be added to My News.
There is a baby in Mum’s tummy, and it belongs to aunty Penny.
This simple explanation may have sated the curiosity of Fiona Davey’s three children about her growing belly, but it doesn’t do justice to the extraordinary gift one Melbourne sister is giving to another.
Just five months after her wedding, Fiona’s younger sister Penny Hansen was diagnosed with aggressive stage four breast cancer.
Unbeknown to her, she was also five weeks pregnant
The then 31-year-old lost that baby and endured 18 months of treatment that included a round of IVF for an egg collection, chemotherapy, radiation and a double mastectomy.
Given it was an oestrogen driven cancer, Penny risked the cancer returning if she fell pregnant. So her older sister offered to be her surrogate.
“I don’t want to go through the cancer again with her,” Fiona said.
“If we could prevent that by me carrying her baby, then that was a no-brainer.”
It took almost a year for Fiona and husband Adam, Penny and husband Leigh to jump through all the legal and medical hurdles needed for surrogacy; multiple counselling sessions, appointments with lawyers, medical checks and panel hearings.
With the third embryo transfer, Fiona fell pregnant and will give birth to her niece or nephew just in time for Christmas.
The baby will be passed straight to its Mum after birth, with the two sisters to spend time in adjoining rooms on the post-natal ward; the older sister sleeping and recovering, the younger one learning to feed, nurse and get used to the sleepless nights.
Melbourne IVF medical director and Penny’s fertility specialist, Dr Lyndon Hale said this was the service’s 50th surrogacy birth since altruistic surrogacy became legal in Victoria nine years ago.
Interstate, IVF Australia in Sydney has just reached its 40th surrogacy, and Queensland Fertility Group has welcomed 39 surrogacy births.
And it’s a strict process, forcing couples to confront many challenging legal and ethical potentials such as dealing with the fallout if the surrogate wanted to keep the baby upon birth. Or what happens if the biological parents decide they don’t want the child if there are birth defects?
“It’s a small group of people who need this, but it’s important,” Dr Hale said.
“We find it’s particularly family who will say; I want you to have babies and I’m happy to carry it for you.
“If someone said you would you look after your niece or nephew for a while – or nine months in this case – you would, wouldn’t you.”
MORE NEWS:
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE WOMEN
HOT SPOTS VICTORIA’S SCHOOLIES ARE HITTING
TRUE BLUE SUPPORT INSPIRES TAYLA TO TITLE
Fiona, who is also a midwife, said this felt like a very different pregnancy to carrying her own three children.
“I feel like I’m babysitting my niece or nephew,” said Fiona.
“I just can’t wait to give it to them.”
Regular text messages to check in on cravings, or to drop round home-cooked meals and feel her child kicking inside her sister, Penny said she had been supported to live the pregnancy through her sister.
“I feel like I’ve already started to bond with my baby,” she said.
“I feel very connected because I am just so excited.”