I had my son’s baby

Here, Kayla, tells the story in her own words.

Doubled over with period pain, I yelled out to my mum.

‘I’m going to get you to the doctor,’ she said, passing me a hot water bottle.

Examining me, the doctor found a strange lump. Sent for tests and scans, it turned out I had a huge benign tumour and my womb and cervix needed to be removed.

Even though I was only 17, I knew what this meant. ‘I’ll never have a baby of my own,’ I wept.

‘Don’t give up, darling. There are options out there,’ my mum, Teelaine, 50, comforted me.

Throwing myself into my school work, I tried to push the fear of never becoming a mum out of my mind.

At 19, I was reunited with an old friend, Cody. ‘He’s always liked you,’ one of my girlfriends giggled.

As we got to know each other again, I realised there was a connection between us and we started dating. I loved going to his place and meeting his mum Patty and stepdad Chris. After we’d been together for six months, I knew I had to tell him about my operation.

‘You might never be a dad. I just want you to know that before we go any further,’ I explained, tears in my eyes. ‘Don’t worry, Kayla. I just want to be with you,’ Cody said sweetly, kissing the top of my head. We continued going out together and I began studying to be a nurse.

In the neonatal unit surrounded by newborns,  I’d get a lump in my throat, terrified that I’d never get to hold my own baby.

Reading up on surrogacy, I was convinced that it was the way to make my dreams of being a mum come true.

After Cody and I got married in 2011, I felt ready to begin seriously thinking about trying to have a baby. ‘I’ll have your baby for you,’ mentioned his mum Patty, 50. But I didn’t know if she was serious. Besides, I couldn’t ask her to do that.

Sometimes, the dream of motherhood didn’t feel like it was going to happen to me. Then, in the summer of 2016, Patty asked to see
me and Cody. ‘I’d like to put myself forward as your surrogate,’ she told us. ‘I would be so honoured to do this for you and help you in any way I can.’ Tears streamed down my face. Suddenly it seemed so perfect – my mother-in-law was going to have my baby!

We tried not to get our hopes up as Patty went through some scans and tests to look at her womb and make sure her heart and blood pressure were okay. After we got the blessing to go forward with the surrogacy, Patty and I just screamed and hugged each other in the hospital room. I gave myself hormone injections, so that my eggs could be harvested and then turned into embryos using Cody’s sperm.

In March 2017, one was implanted into Patty. Sadly, that one didn’t work but we kept positive for the next go the following month.

One morning, Patty called by on her way to work with a urine sample and left Cody and I alone to test it. Dipping the pregnancy test in together, we were thrilled when we saw the two lines come up. ‘Let’s surprise your mum at work!’ I said excitedly.

Telling Patty she was carrying her grandchild, we watched her beam with joy.

Continuing to sail through her pregnancy with hardly any sickness, Patty was glowing. On finding out the bub was a boy, we decided to call him Kross.

Patty finally got a little baby bump at 26 weeks and I have to admit, I had mixed feelings. Although overjoyed to see the first signs of our bub, there was also the stabbing feeling I had that I wish that was me. So, whenever I felt like that, I’d remind myself of just how lucky I was to have such a selfless mother-in-law.

‘This is really happening. We’re going to be parents,’ Cody said, putting his arms around me as we added the finishing touches to Kross’ room.

On December 30, 2017, we all went to the hospital for Patty to have a C-section. They allowed me, Cody and Chris in the room, which was great. The first thing I saw was Kross’ mop of dark hair emerging from Patty’s tummy, it was amazing. ‘Thank you, Patty,’ I said  as I cradled our boy.

Weighing 3.7 kilos, he had brown eyes and looked just like Cody, but with my dimples.

Now five months old, Kross is thriving. He loves getting visits from his grandma Patty, who only lives a few minutes away.

When he gets older, I’ll explain to him what his wonderful grandmother did for us. Every time I look at my beautiful son, I am so thankful to my wonderful mother-in-law.