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A 51-year-old woman from Illinois, who served as the gestational carrier for her daughter and son-in-law, has given birth to her granddaughter.

Julie Loving, the grandmother, delivered a healthy baby girl with her daughter, Breanna Lockwood, right next to her, reported "Good Morning America."

The baby, named Briar Juliette Lockwood, was born on November 2 and is the first biological child for Breanna and her husband, Aaron.

It was definitely a surreal process, Breanna said. All the feelings came at once, just watching my mom go through everything and all shes done for me and is continuing to do.

View this post on Instagram

They say, It takes a village to raise a child, but for some it can take a village to HAVE a child... We are happy to announce, finally, ... BABY LOCKWOOD IS ON THE WAY! Made with a lot of love, and a little bit of science... Baby Lockwood will be brought into this world via GESTATIONAL CARRIER, and this little miracles carrier is quite a special one. MY MOM. My mom will be carrying and delivering our baby! The biggest supporter in my life is giving us our biggest blessing. My beautiful mama is carrying her first grandchild, Aaron and my biological child, as a gestational carrier! Aaron and I had our reproductive DNA taken, fertilized, tested, and frozen via IVF, as my mom breezed through every preliminary test she took, to be able to give us this gift. Defying the odds at 51 years old, shes pushing reproductive science out of the box, as ONE of only a handful of surrogates NATIONWIDE to deliver their grandchild via gestational surrogacy! The trials and tribulations of infertility was undoubtedly the hardest venture we have had to face in our lives. In short that included... 1311 days 476 injections 64 blood draws 7 surgical procedures 3 rounds of harvesting eggs 19 frozen embryos 8 IVF frozen embryo transfers total 4 failed embryo transfers 1 singleton miscarriage 1 twin miscarriage 1 ectopic pregnancy Countless tears Sharing this adventure with my mom has been the most unique and amazing experience. Surrogacy is truly the most selfless gift. She is the pure example of you would do anything for your kids, and if i can even be half of the mother she is, I know im doing something right... I want to give a special thanks to Dr. Kaplan with @fertilitycentersofillinois for his compassion and care in this field. Baby Lockwood we cant wait to meet you... See you in November!

A post shared by Breanna Lockwood (@ivf.surrogacy.diary) on Jun 5, 2020 at 5:34pm PDT

After being induced about ten days before the due date, Loving gave birth to her granddaughter. Breanna shared that her mother had to undergo an emergency C-section due to difficulties with the umbilical cord.

She definitely rocked the pregnancy and the birth rocked her a little bit, but she did a great job, Lockwood added. It was a super emotional day with lots of tears and lots of happy times and some scary times but our doctors and team were great.

This heartwarming story started when the 29-year-old dental hygienist and her husband began trying for a baby after their wedding in 2016. After unsuccesfully trying to have a child, Breanna started seeing a fertility specialist.

She tried multiple rounds of in vitro fertilization and suffered several miscarriages. Her doctor eventually told her that she would need to start considering surrogacy.

As the heartbreaking news continued to happen for the mother, she said that infertility was the hardest thing she ever had to go through.

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A lot of new followers here! Quick recap! My name is Breanna and my husband here is Aaron! In the middle is my sweet mama whos ! We are over the moon excited, but it took a long hard road to get here. After many many years of infertility and loss, we had our doctor come to us and say that ultimately my uterus was incapable of growing a child. On our path to become parents, I had a few miscarriages, and one that required a D&C (procedure to remove pregnancy) and I developed a condition called Ashermans Syndrome. Ashermans Syndrome is where bands of scar tissue form inside your uterus. Most commonly from a D&C procedure. Google will tell you its rare, but thats not true. It mostly goes undiagnosed. I had no idea this could happen prior to going in to the operating room that day, and I am still devastated by it. My mama came to me multiple times offering to carry for us. My response? I laughed. you crazy!? lol... I did not think that was even possible. My mom, Julie, is 51 years old and had already been through menopause! But she was persistent. One thing about my mom is when she sets her mind to something, she goes for it. Shes a hardcore athlete, whos completed multiple Boston marathons and super into heath and fitness. She sets a goal and she goes for it. Since we already had been through IVF, and my husband and I had no issues creating embryos with my egg and his sperm. Half the work was done. Our embryos were frozen already waiting for us. Once our fertility doctor was on board, he prepared my moms body to carry, taking her out of menopause through hormone therapy, and the rest fell into place. Julie is 36 weeks with our baby girl! Her first grandchild! This has been the wildest ride of our lives. We are so grateful for my mom and that we were given this opportunity ... I dont think theres ever been a morning I dont wake up and pinch myself. Thanks for joining us on this adventure! We love hearing how far this story has reached, comment below where youre from : @oatsandhoneyphotography

A post shared by Breanna Lockwood (@ivf.surrogacy.diary) on Oct 19, 2020 at 8:40am PDT

When you have a plan for your life and then something like infertility gets in the way, I felt like I couldnt see what I pictured anymore, that it could be taken away from me, Breanna said.

Soon after not getting anywhere, the doctor suggested that Breanna find a family member or friend to act as her gestational carrier. She never imagined her surrogate could be her 51-year-old mother.

Because Breanna had sufferedf many miscarriages along the way, the family did not get their hopes up that the grandmother would be successful in carrying the baby.

While being pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic, Loving took a break from her job at a grocery store to stay healthy. She is happy that she was able to deliver her granddaughter safely.

Breanna predicts her daughter and mother will always have a special bond.

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