A 58-year-old Utah woman is set to give birth in a few weeks — to her first grandchild.
Julia Navarro is serving as a gestational surrogate for her daughter and son-in-law after the couple struggled with fertility problems.
Navarro's daughter Lorena McKinnon said she began trying to have a baby with her husband, Micah McKinnon, three years ago. The 32-year-old Provo woman said she's had about a dozen miscarriages, with the longest pregnancy lasting 10 weeks.
After several tries, the couple began looking for a surrogate. McKinnon said a friend and sister both considered carrying her baby, but ultimately decided against it.
That's when her mother offered to step in.
"As a family, we have to help each other," Navarro told The Salt Lake Tribune .
Navarro had to undergo hormone shots for three months before an embryo fertilized by her daughter and son-in-law could be implanted. Because of her age, doctors had warned there was only a 45 percent chance the implantation would be successful.
But the procedure was a success, and Navarro said she's had a smooth pregnancy carrying a developing baby girl.
As with other surrogacy arrangements, the couple and Navarro needed three months of counseling.
"The psychologists wanted to make sure we knew what we were getting into — that we were mentally prepared," McKinnon said. "Mostly, surrogacy contracts are with people you don't know. It was weird to have a contract with my mom."
It's unclear how rare it is for a woman to carry her own grandchild, but recent news reports have detailed similar relationships.
Last year, a 53-year-old Iowa woman gave birth to her twin granddaughters. And in 2012, a 49-year-old woman in Maine gave birth to her grandson.
McKinnon said she was grateful and overwhelmed by her mother's offer, which eases some of the obstacles and financial burdens for parents using a gestational surrogate.
According to Utah law, surrogates must be 21 or older, financially stable and must have already given birth once.
Couples must be married and are allowed to offer a reasonable payment to a surrogate.
On average, a couple can spend about $60,000 on procedures and paying the surrogate, but McKinnon said her mother's offer to help is saving the couple about half of that.
Both she and her daughter said they've bonded over the experience.
The baby girl is due in early February.
据美联社1月8日报道，在美国犹他州普洛佛，一名58岁的妇女未来几周内即将产下她的第一个孙女。
因女儿和女婿长期不孕不育，母亲朱莉亚·纳瓦罗为其代孕。
女儿洛雷娜·麦金农和丈夫米卡·麦金农三年前就开始准备生孩子。不幸的是，32岁的她习惯性流产，最长的孕期只有10周。
几经努力后，这对夫妇开始寻找代孕。虽然曾有一位朋友和姐姐都考虑过为其代孕，但最终还是放弃了。
此时，她母亲主动提出为其代孕。
纳瓦罗告诉盐湖论坛报：“作为一个家庭，我们要互相帮助。”
在女儿和女婿受精的胚胎植入前，纳瓦罗要接受3个月的荷尔蒙注射。由于高龄，医生曾警告胚胎植入成功率只有45%。
幸运的是，整个过程进行得很顺利，纳瓦罗说自己成功怀上了一个女婴儿。
与其他代孕程序一样，这对夫妇和纳瓦罗需要接受为期3个月的心理咨询。
女儿说：“心理医生想确认我们清楚面临的状况——但我们已经做好心理准备了，通常代孕合同是和陌生人签的，和我母亲签合同感觉怪怪的。”
生完女儿又生孙女的事很少见，但最近的新闻报道中也出现类似的情况。
去年，爱荷华州一名53岁的妇女产下了一对双胞胎孙女。2012年，缅因州一名49岁的妇女产下了孙子。
女儿麦金农说母亲的帮助让她感激又感动，因为这样也减轻了代孕的困难和经济负担。
根据犹他州法律，代孕者必须21岁以上，经济收入稳定，且必须已生育一次。
只有已婚且能提供合理报酬给代孕者的夫妇才允许申请代孕。
平均一对夫妇花在代孕程序和代孕者报酬的费用为6万美金（约合36.3万人民币），不过因为母亲的帮助，麦金农可以省掉一半的费用。
她和母亲都说这次经历增进了她们的感情。
女宝宝即将在二月初出世。
