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Utah woman, 56, gives birth to her own granddaughter

A woman has given birth to her own granddaughter after her daughter-in-law had to have an emergency hysterectomy after giving birth.

I kept my pregnancy a secret for 9 months

Nancy Hauck, 56, welcomed her newest grandchild in an unusual way.

The Utah grandmother gave birth to her granddaughter, Hannah, on Wednesday afternoon.

Nancy offered to be a surrogate for her son, Jeff, 33, and his wife Cambria, 30, after her daughter-in-law had a lifesaving hysterectomy following the traumatic birth of their second set of twins.

“Everything went perfectly, and we are feeling so blessed to have her in our family,” Nancy told People magazine after the birth.

She was in labour for nine hours, which she described as “a remarkable and spiritual experience,” but noted she is feeling “some sadness from the separation”, NY Post reported.

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Cambria couldn't have another child after an emergency hysterectomy. Picture: cambriairene/Instagram
Cambria couldn't have another child after an emergency hysterectomy. Picture: cambriairene/Instagram

“Even though I know that the baby’s going to my son, I know there’ll be a little bit of that empty feeling,” she said. Nancy plans to take some time off work and write a book about the experience.

Jeff and Cambria met before Cambria’s senior year of high school and always knew they wanted a big family. “From the time I was a teenager, I knew that if I could only be one thing, I wanted to be a dad,” Jeff told People.

The young couple struggled for six years before welcoming twins, Vera and Ayva, now 4; and Diesel and Luca, now 13 months, through IVF. The couple was disheartened to learn that Cambria couldn’t safely carry any more children after she was advised to undergo a hysterectomy in September 2021.

That’s when Nancy stepped in to play a special role in her son’s family.

She started hormone treatments in January 2022 and injected herself every day for 12 weeks with the help of her husband and Jeff’s dad, Jason, 59.

A woman has given birth to her own granddaughter. Picture: cambriairene/Instagram
A woman has given birth to her own granddaughter. Picture: cambriairene/Instagram

In February 2022, Hauck had a fertilised embryo Jeff and Cambria created through IVF transferred. It immediately stuck. Hauck was pregnant with her grandchild.

Hannah’s name is a tribute to her selfless grandmother.

“Six days after the transfer, when she got the positive pregnancy test,” Jeff explained, his mother was “woken up in the middle of the night, and she heard a little voice that said, ‘My name is Hannah.’”

Jeff and Cambria looked up the name and were shocked and filled with joy to learn that both Nancy and Hannah mean “grace.”

“I knew instantly that was her name,” Cambria, a social media influencer, told People.

Everyone in the family is grateful. Picture: cambriairene/Instagram
Everyone in the family is grateful. Picture: cambriairene/Instagram

The family is happy to expand, and while Hannah isn’t Nancy or Jason’s first grandchild, they do wonder what it will be like to be her grandparents.

“I hope that we won’t treat Hannah any differently,” Jason said to People. “But we’ll always have that connection — that Nancy carried her for nine months. Just the magic of the whole experience will always be unique in our eyes.”

“In my heart I want all of my grandkids to know that they’re equally as loved,” adds Nancy, “and I would’ve done it for any of them”.

This story originally appeared on the NY Post and reproduced with permission

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/pregnancy/utah-woman-56-gives-birth-to-her-own-granddaughter/news-story/9db179133f647c9c4fcb250e5aab7a58