The moment woman, 46, gives birth to her own GRANDSON – after daughter’s battle with leukaemia left her unable to carry to full term
She said: ‘It was the best experience of my life’
Imagine being able to help your daughter become a Mother, to give her the gift of life.
When Alice Hohenhaus, 25, was just four-years-old, she was diagnosed with leukaemia. Despite going into remission at eight-years-old, she relapsed at nine and full body radiation meant she would later struggle to have children due to scar tissue.
Much to her shock, Alice fell pregnant naturally when she was 23, but tragically lost her little boy at 15 weeks – doctors advising her that complications with her uterus meant she would never be able to carry a baby to full term. But Alice’s mother, Theresa Hohenhaus, from Ipswich, Queensland, offered to step in as a surrogate for her daughter and keep her dreams of having a family alive.
At the age of 20, Alice started her first round of I.V.F treatment with a donor. At the age of 23 she fell pregnant, unfortunately ʟᴏsɪɴɢ the baby at 15 weeks. Suffering a major ʜᴀᴇᴍᴏʀʀʜᴀɢᴇ after ʟᴏsɪɴɢ her baby, she found out her ᴡᴏʀsᴛ ɴɪɢʜᴛᴍᴀʀᴇ; she could never carry a baby herself. She would be putting her own life at ʀɪsᴋ by having a baby and was advised to use a surrogate.
That’s when Mum Theresa stepped in. Already having 5 of her own and fostering up to 50 children, Theresa knew it was the right thing to do. At first, Alice said ‘no, you can’t’ but her Mum insisted so they decided to try. Theresa knew she was pregnant straight away, having a kind of instant morning sɪᴄᴋɴᴇss, something she experienced with 5 of her own pregnancies. Alice was in remission at the age of 8 and Doctors ᴘᴇʀFᴏʀᴍᴇᴅ tests to see if Mum or Dad, Craig were a ʙᴏɴᴇ ᴍᴀʀʀᴏᴡ match. Unfortunately they were not but Doctors suggested having another child to be a ʙᴏʀʀᴏᴡ ᴍᴀʀʀᴏᴡ donor in case Aʟɪᴄᴇ ʀᴇʟᴀᴘsᴇᴅ. James, now 20, sᴀᴠᴇᴅ his sisters life 2 years later by being a ᴅᴏɴᴏʀ.
During the pregnancy, Alice went to every single appointment and scan with her Mother. She wished it could be her but experiencing the pregnancy the best she could through her Mum, was the only way to have a child of her own.
Theresa was induced 2 weeks early at Ipswich hospital, 45 minutes away from Brisbane. Born on Thursday, June 2 at 5:30pm, Parker is absolutely everything Alice wanted; he is perfect.
Alice has one more Fʀᴏᴢᴇɴ ᴇᴍʙʀʏᴏ and Theresa has already offered to carry Parker’s sibling, when the time is right.
