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This article was published 9/10/2014 (2173 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Gina Denby and her husband want to have a baby, but her heart condition means doctors can't guarantee it won't be high-risk.

Now a friend has come forward offering to be her surrogate and carry their baby. And on Saturday, Denby and her husband, Ryan, are holding a fundraiser to help cover the costs of the procedure.

Denby was born with the congenital heart condition called transposition of the great arteries, where the two main arteries allowing blood to leave and return to the heart, are switched. This condition, which affects five out of every 10,000 babies, results in oxygen-rich blood from the lungs being pumped back to the lungs while oxygen-depleted blood circulates through the body.

Denby, 30, had open-heart surgery when she was a baby and has undergone a few cardiac surgeries and pacemaker implants since then.

She has always loved children and wanted to have her own.

"I work in child care and when I was young I played mommy with my dolls," she said.

'He said a pregnancy would be hard on my body. I then asked what was the life expectancy for a person with a heart like mine, he said he didn't know, but the oldest ones who had it are 60. That was my worst Christmas ever' ‐ Gina Denby

That's why it was so heart-wrenching a few years ago when a cardiologist told the couple that because of her enlarged heart, Denby faced an elevated risk of complications, including dying, if she got pregnant. He suggested she look into surrogacy.

"He said a pregnancy would be hard on my body," Denby said.

"I then asked what was the life expectancy for a person with a heart like mine, and he said he didn't know, but the oldest ones who had it are 60.

"That was my worst Christmas ever."

But Denby said Ryan stayed by her side. The couple got married just over two years ago.

They initially looked into adoption, but then a friend, who is responsible for getting them together and officiated at their wedding, offered to carry their child for them.

The couple was referred to a prenatal specialist who works with women who have heart conditions -- who also admitted there were risks -- before being referred to the Heartland Fertility and Gynecology Clinic, where they were told they were perfect candidates.

"I don't want to just be pregnant -- I want to be a mom," Denby said.

But it's not cheap. The provincial government doesn't cover the cost of surrogacy in such cases so between the procedures, including egg retrieval, flying the surrogate back and forth from Ontario for appointments, hormones and legal fees, the bill will total tens of thousands of dollars. Legal fees will involve completing all required forms to ensure the couple adopts the baby.

The surrogate, who didn't want to be identified, said she would never have considered performing such a service for a stranger or through an agency.

"I've thought this through very thoroughly and I fully feel that both Gina and Ryan would be wonderful parents together, or separate should anything ever happen," the woman said.

"I have the ability to make their dreams come true and I can't imagine anyone not taking an opportunity to complete someone else's life in such a special way. I would do anything for the people I love.

"I'll take a few stretch marks to help with something so important to my best friends."

Surrogacy has given rise to heated international debate over a raft of issues -- the legal status of the child and its parents, allegations of low financial rewards for women in developing countries paid to be surrogates in what is sometimes called fertility tourism and what happens when a pregnancy does not go according to plan.

In a case last July, a Thai surrogate mother accused an Australian couple of abandoning their Down syndrome son, and taking only the healthy twin sister.

Denby's mom, Pat Johnson, said it's easy for her to remember the birth of her child and the fear she felt when told her child needed cardiac surgery.

"It was a bit of a roller-coaster," she said.

"Now she's told not to have children, then possible, but risky. Our reaction is we don't want to risk anything. We don't want to risk losing Gina. We support her.

"When she was a child, there were many times we thought we might lose her. We don't want to lose her now.

"Grandchildren are important, but we don't want to lose a child."

The fundraiser is set for Saturday at Assiniboia Downs at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 per person and are available at the door.

You can also donate online here.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca