Love and controversy: she was the mother and grandmother of her son's daughter at 61

Mother-grandmother Cecile, with little Uma and her parents, Matthew and Elliot / AP

A love story, not without controversy for its ethical dilemmas, just happened in Nebraska, United States, drawing the attention of the whole world. And it is that a 61-year-old woman became mother and grandmother at the same time after giving birth to the baby that she managed to help her son and her husband, who thus realized their dream of being parents.

It is curious to note that almost the whole family intervened, the sister-in-law of the son of the current mother-grandmother having also participated.

Cecile Eledge was the one who directed little Uma. Matthew, 32, son of Cecile, inseminated the egg, which had been given by the sister of Elliot, husband of Matthew, 29 years old.

The couple had been saving for years, estimating that it would only cost about $ 40,000 for in vitro fertilization, plus medical costs related to pregnancy and childbirth.

Two years ago, Cécile, Matthew's mother, was the one offered to young people's wishes. And what the couple initially understood as a joke became a reality when they began meeting with AHR specialists to discuss their options.

Even though she was already menopausal, Cecile had always been, in the words of her son, a fan of health, so that her body was prepared for pregnancy.

The equipment of the Methodist Hospital for Women in Omaha, the city where the marriage resides, allowed Cécile to undergo a series of tests (cytology, blood, cholesterol, stress, mammography and ultrasound) which showed that she was healthy enough to pbad the gestation.

However, doctors warned of the risks badociated with his age, including lung problems, blood clots and a greater likelihood that delivery will end with a caesarean section.

However, Cecile accepted the challenge and became pregnant on the first attempt at embryo transfer. She then had a normal pregnancy, though with more nausea than she remembered during her previous pregnancies, and gave birth naturally.

HISTORY AGAINST DISCRIMINATION

The couple released their story to show that a family like hers can grow up even in the most conservative region of the United States, Nebraska does not have state laws prohibiting discrimination based on guidance badual orientation or gender identity.

"I do not know how to describe it, my mother is extraordinary"

Matthew Eledge
Son of Cecile and father of Uma

In fact, Matthew was fired in 2015 from his position as an English teacher in a private Catholic high school in Omaha when he announced that he was planning to marry another man.

Although unusual, the case of Cecile Eledge is not the first in which a woman gives birth to her own grandson, is not even the oldest.

In 1987, Pat Anthony, 48, gave birth to her daughter's triplets in South Africa. In 1996, 51-year-old Edith Jones became the first grandmother in UK rental to help her daughter and son-in-law become her parents. In 2016, the Greek Anastbadia Ontou became, at age 67, the woman. known in gestar for another person, in this case also for his daughter.

These altruistic examples contrast with the more frequent cases in which couples who can not have children use women to manage a baby in exchange for an economic counterpart, although this practice is illegal in several countries. couples come every year through intermediary companies in other countries with legislation to carry out the process.

The girl named Uma Luise Dougherty-Eldge, she was born in good health and in perfect condition, despite the risks involved, in addition to the age of the pregnant woman.

However, gynecologist Carolyn Maud Doherty, who attended Cecile, pointed out that "it is important that people realize that not all 60-year-olds are healthy enough to be a surrogate mother. There is probably only a handful of people who can do it. "

Matthew said of his mother: "I am deeply grateful that she continues to surpbad me despite her great age".