The grandmother, Kristine Casey, was a surrogate mother to her daughter, Sara Connell, so that she could have a grandchild. This is not a tabloid story you would find in a gossip magazine. Sara had three unsuccessful pregnancies and had given up on having a child naturally. Of course, Grandma Kristine is not the oldest mom by far, BUT she is the first to have her own grandchild.
Sara Connell and her husband, Bill, are the biological parents of the child Casey carried, who grew from an embryo created from the Chicago couple’s sperm and egg. The Connells decided in 2004 to try for a baby, but Sara, then 35, discovered that she wasn’t ovulating. After undergoing fertility treatments at the Institute for Reproductive Medicine in Evanston, she became pregnant but gave birth to stillborn twins and subsequently suffered a miscarriage.ny
Casey’s three previous pregnancies, the last of which was 30 years ago, were uneventful and resulted in three daughters. After retiring from it in 2007, Casey filled her time with walking, meditating, taking classes, and socializing with friends. But she felt that she had a deeper calling.
“In early 2009,” he said, “I decided for once in my life to take some time to think about my life and find something that felt right for me, where there was no pressure to do one specific thing.”
During a visit to Chicago, where she lives in Virginia, Casey participated in a workshop led by Connell, a life coach, writer, and speaker on women’s empowerment. In a class exercise, she used pictures cut out of a magazine to create a collage that represented a life goal. An image caught her eye: an ostrich with an expression of wonder and joy.
Casey wanted to experience the exuberance captured in the image.
Around the same time, a fellow hiker mentioned a story she had read about a postmenopausal woman who had given birth.
“I thought, ‘Wow, three of the happiest days of my life were giving birth to my daughters,’ and I thought I could choose to do this for someone I love,” Fasey said.
Did the doctors think it was weird? Josephine Johnston, a research fellow at Hastigs Ϲeter, a bioethics research institute, had ethical objections to the idea of a 61-year-old woman having a baby, as she had undergone a thorough medical and psychological evaluation.
“It seems like an oddly loving and cool thing for a family member,” he said. “It’s a great story to tell the child,” added Johnston. “It’s one of those situations where strangers might wonder if she’s okay or healthy. But the experience of that child and his family will be good. … If they treat him as good, he will experience himself that way.”
Would you be willing to give up 9 months of your quiet retirement to help bring a grandchild into your family as a surrogate? I don’t think he can?
The tale of Margaret’s surrogacy for her daughter shattered age-old notions about the limitations of age and what it means to be a grandmother. Her act of love demonstrated that a mother’s love knows no boundaries and that family bonds can overcome any obstacle.
As the years passed, Margaret continued to play a vital role in her grandson’s life, sharing precious moments and making memories that would be cherished for a lifetime. The little boy grew up knowing that he was the product of a love so profound that it knew no bounds.
Margaret’s journey as a surrogate for her daughter and the birth of her grandson became a symbol of hope and resilience—a testament to the power of love and the extraordinary lengths a mother would go to for her child. The story touched the hearts of millions, inspiring them to appreciate the miracles that love can create and the strength that lies within the bonds of family.ny
