For most women, the idea of carrying four of their own children is more than enough. But one woman did that much and then kept right on going. Meredith Olafson, of Fargo, North Dakota, has delivered 15 babies. That is approaching Duggar levels of birthing. Unlike the Duggars, though, most of the babies didn't belong to Olafson. The first four were her own, and the other 11 were for families for whom she was serving as a surrogate. Fortunately, Olafson says she has relatively easy pregnancies—no morning sickness, very little weight gain—and her deliveries are the stuff dreams are made of:

My longest was my oldest daughter. She took me an hour and 15 minutes to deliver. My second daughter took me 30 minutes and the last two took me 20 minutes.


With luck like that, it's tempting to hate her, except she seems so darn likable. Most surrogates get paid a lot of money (some as much as $250,000), but Olafson makes a fraction of that. She isn't in it for the money; she's in it to see the joy on the parents' faces when they get to experience having a child. The babies don't have her DNA, so she says she looks at it like the parents have handed over their baby to her and then she hands it back—which she says makes it a lot easier.

Olafson just wrapped up her sixth surrogate pregnancy—she's carried two sets of triplets, a set of twins, and three single babies—and now, she says, "I am officially retiring the uterus." Fair enough! Olafson is now 47, and let's hope her uterus enjoys a life of leisure from here on out.


Super surrogate gives birth to 15th baby [MSNBC]