(Photo : ARIEL PANOWICZ VIA FACEBOOK) 61-year-old Cecile Reynek Eledge gave birth to her very own granddaughter for her son and son-in-law

(Photo : ADIEL PANOWICZ VIA FACEBOOK) A Happy Family

(Photo : ARIEL PANOWICZ VIA FACEBOOK)

Cecile Eledge, a 61 years age grandmother delivered a baby on March 25 in exceptional circumstances. Surprisingly, the baby she gave birth to happened to be her granddaughter. Intrigued? She did this by means of IVF or in vitro fertilization, using the sperm of the baby's father and eggs of her aunt. Eledge's last delivery of a child was around thirty years ago, but now she is in her postmenopausal stage. In fact, giving way to her son's wishes, she volunteered to be the surrogate mother for her son as well as his husband.

How It All Started

All of this started when Mathew her son and his husband Elliot Dougherty divulged a deep desire for an offspring as they wished to start a family of their own, and she lost no time in agreeing to the idea and immediately volunteered to help their cause as their surrogate.

Is It Safe For Eledge To Bear A Baby At 61?

However, volunteering is one thing and determining if she can bear and deliver a baby at 61 is another, and that too when she had crossed the menopausal stage. So a prolonged process started with several tests. At last, the doctors gave her the go ahead to get conceived and give birth to a baby. In fact her blood pressure was lower than that of her children. To start menstruating again, she was given hormones.

The Donors

Dougherty's sister, Lea Yribe donated her egg to be fertilized with sperm taken from Matthew. After the successful fertilization it was implanted in Cecil's uterus. Now Matthew and Elliot are joyous parents, with their dreams fulfilled at last, although they are forced to deal with many tough issues.

Naturally people are perplexed and find it hard to accept the idea. They asked the "couple" about the origin of the egg and sperm. And when they explained, they could not fully comprehend it at once at first. They felt that they are fortunate, as a gay couple in having a child. After the initial confusion, people congratulated them for being proud parents. It is also a good thing that technology let them have an offspring.

Leaving behind a tough period of the normal nine months, during which Cecile suffered from the normal symptoms of pregnancy such as morning sickness, she delivered the baby without undue complications to the great relief of all concerned.