An older sister volunteered to surrogate her younger sister, who had struggled to conceive for years and failed. The doctors implanted embryos in both the sisters to increase their chances of having at least one baby.
Every couple desires to have a home filled with children’s laughter. However, embracing parenthood can sometimes be extremely difficult, taking a physical and emotional toll on people.
Annie and Joby Johnston from Lewis Centre, Ohio, battled the same feelings when they couldn’t get pregnant. They got married in 2005 and started trying to get pregnant in 2008.
YEARNING FOR A FAMILY
They tried everything, from surgeries and artificial insemination to IVF. The Johnstons had a loving home and hearts brimming with parental emotions, but none of these things were enough to help them start a family.
Eventually, the couple took a break from all medical treatments in 2011. During this time, Annie’s older sister, Chrissy Knott, thought of a way to help the desperate couple. Knott was Annie’s only sibling and lived seven houses apart.
She talked to the Johnstons and offered to be a surrogate to help them experience parental bliss. Annie and Joby waited two years before accepting Knott’s offer in 2013. The then 37-year-old Knott was already a mom to two boys.
WORTH A SHOT
On Valentine’s Day in 2013, the eggs were fertilized with Joby’s sperms. The doctors suggested implanting two embryos each in both the sisters to increase the chances of having at least one child.
Like Knott volunteered to be her sister’s gestational career, a 51-year-old mom stepped up to give birth to her granddaughter in 2020, presenting her daughter with the most precious gift ever.
Luckily, Knott and Annie were both on the same cycle, so the doctors thought it was worth a shot. Annie had received multiple negative tests and didn’t think this time would be any different.
SURPRISE, SURPRISE
Much to everyone’s surprise, the doctors had surprising news. Both the sisters were pregnant with twins – Knott carried two boys, while Annie had two girls. The sisters were about to receive much more than they initially signed up for.
According to Annie, the babies were quadruplets, as they were conceived on the same day but only carried in two different wombs. Indeed, she was proven right when the babies were also born on the same day.
Annie also shared: “My sister was carrying the two boys, and she delivered first, so I could be there in the room for her when she had them. Two hours later, at 9:30 a.m., I delivered the girls.”
FOUR BUNDLES OF JOY
On October 24, 2013, the sisters went for scheduled C-sections to deliver the quadruplets on the same day. The babies were all born healthy – Charles (6 pounds), Thomas (6 pounds, 2 ounces), Grace (5 pounds, 7 ounces), and Hadley (5 pounds, four ounces).
The Johnstons were thrilled to welcome not one but four babies into their hearts and home. Annie also expressed: “Trying to get at least one baby, we are just so excited to take all four of them home, and they’re all healthy.”
Like Knott volunteered to be her sister’s gestational career, a 51-year-old mom stepped up to give birth to her granddaughter in 2020, presenting her daughter with the most precious gift ever. You can read the full story here.
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