Queensland mother gives birth to her own grandson
A woman from Queensland's Scenic Rim has given birth to her own grandson, because childhood cancer prevented her daughter from carrying a baby to full term.
Theresa Hohenhaus, 46, who was already a mother-of-five says giving her daughter Alice the priceless gift of her own child was the best experience of her life.
"I was told I couldn't carry any more," Alice Hohenhaus told 7News.
"We were just sitting there and my mum turns to me and goes 'I'll carry your baby'."
"I just looked at her and I said, 'Pardon?'"
Theresa became a surrogate at 45 and was implanted with her daughter's fertilised egg, which had a 50 per cent chance of burrying into her uterus.
"After everything Alice has been through, it's something I just had to do," Theresa said.
Alice told 7News, "They just rung me. I said,'You're pregnant'. She goes, 'I told you'"
Following the good news, came the 20 week scan, a baby shower for Alice and eight and a half months of morning sickness for Theresa.
After those unforgettable moments, Theresa delivered her sixth child - and first grandson.
An eight pound little boy named Parker.
"I was just crying, and the doctor was crying, the nurse was crying, everybody was crying," Alice said.
"It's not everyday that you can say that you cut your own baby's cord."
"I knew I'd given her something she'd wanted for so long," said Theresa.
Theresa had risked her own health for Alice whose own survival had made front page news.
She was diagnosed with leukaemia at 4.
At 9 the cancer returned.
Her brother James was conceived to save her life and his bone marrow ended up doing just that.
That gift of life was repaid with her little boy being named Parker James.
"I feel like this is the second time now I have been asked to have a baby for Alice," said Theresa.
And there may be a third as Alice has a second, final frozen embryo in storage.
"What woman does that for anybody, seriously she needs an award for something because she is the best person in the world."
