A woman has given birth to her own grandchild by having a surrogate baby for her daughter.
Julie Bradford, 45, had baby Jack for daughter Jessica Jenkins, whose cancer treatment left her infertile.
Jessica, 21, from Rhymney, had her eggs frozen at Cardiff’s University Hospital of Wales before her treatment for cervical cancer began three years ago.
She said Jack, who was born last Friday weighing 6lb 10oz, was “perfect in every way”.
“My mam is the most brave and amazing woman in the world. I love her so much for giving me my son,” Jessica said.
“From a young age I longed to become a mother and our dream has come true.”
Jessica and her husband Rees decided to pursue IVF earlier this year after she had been in remission since the summer of 2014.
Surrogacy ‘an honour’
She was diagnosed in 2013, aged 18, after doctors initially thought she was too young to have cervical cancer.
Jessica said: “They managed to take 21 eggs before I started chemo but only 10 survived and they were made into embryos and grown for two weeks then frozen.
“In May this year we had an embryo defrosted and implanted into my mother’s womb for her to be the little oven helping our Jelly Bean grow.”
Jessica and her mother want the age for routine smear tests for women in Wales to be lowered from 24.
Julie, from Rhymney, Caerphilly, said the last three years had been the “absolute worst” but she had the chance to “put things right”.
She had felt useless while Jessica was “in agony” with cancer, she said.
“I’ve always known from a young age Jess has longed to become a mother just like I did. When cancer took the chance away for her to carry her own child we were all heartbroken.
“I decided that if I could be Jess’ surrogate then I would have the control again.
It had been “an honour” to carry the couple’s child, she added.
“We’ve spent a lot of time in hospitals and it has become normal to us. I’m just so happy that this last visit was for such a wonderful reason.”
.BBC; and Wales News Service