A New Zealand couple is sharing their story of how they were heartbroken after their surrogate terminated a pregnancy.
According to the New Zealand Herald, the couple, referred to as Jane and John, had arranged with a friend for the woman to carry a baby for them. The surrogate became pregnant in September and then initially told the couple that she had a miscarriage at five weeks pregnant.
However, doctors confirmed the baby was still alive, but then at nine weeks pregnant, the surrogate’s husband admitted that they had terminated the pregnancy.
Jane and the surrogate had been friends. When the woman found out Jane wanted a baby, she offered to become a surrogate.
Jane had given birth to a daughter previously, but the pregnancy was hard on her. She suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum, which causes extreme nausea, depression, and was in “agony.”
She was induced at 38 weeks, but the midwife called it a “violent, traumatic birth” because Jane was sick throughout.
Then in 2019, doctors told Jane it was unlikely she could have another baby, and if she did get pregnant, she could have a long recovery.
In New Zealand, surrogacies are done through an “altruistic arrangement,” where there is no payment and no legal contract.
“The couple said they were happy to do it because if anyone deserved this, it was John and I,” Jane said in an interview. “I was completely overwhelmed that someone would do that for us.
“The hardest part of surrogacy is finding someone and getting pregnant, and the first person I’d opened up to had offered.”
Their surrogate arrangement was officially approved by the Ethics Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology and a social worker.
“We were all excited, and John and I gave the couple so many options to pull out, but they said they felt like they were doing the right thing,” Jane said.
After the first claim of a miscarriage, the surrogate’s husband later told Jane and John that the surrogate had another miscarriage at nine weeks pregnant.
“It didn’t all make sense,” Jane said. “I asked if they’d done blood (tests), and then they blocked us out.”
Three weeks later, the surrogate’s husband visited Jane and John at home and told them they had lost the baby to a miscarriage, but then he admitted they had terminated the pregnancy.
“We entered into the agreement with a genuine desire to help,” the surrogate’s husband said in an interview. “Unfortunately, things did not go to plan, and she became very sick with prenatal depression.
“This is probably a more complicated story than it appears on the surface,” he said.
Photo courtesy: Freestocks.org/Unsplash
Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.
