A woman became pregnant with her own son’s baby at 56 after her daughter-in-law was left unable to carry a child. Nancy Hauck, 56, offered to be a surrogate for her son, Jeff Hauck, 32, and his wife, Cambria, 30, after her daughter-in-law had a hysterectomy following the traumatic birth of their twins.
The pair had already been struggling to conceive for six years before they had twins, Vera and Ayva, and another set, Diesel and Luka, via IVF.
But after still wanting to expand their family, Ms Hauck had “a feeling” she was the one who should carry their baby and told Jeff, a computer scientist, that she would be willing to do it for them.
Originally reported in September 2022, Ms Hauck was surprised when doctors told her she was healthy enough to be a gestational carrier – as she wasn’t expecting it to be possible at her age.
The family started the hormone treatment in January 2022 and had the fertilised embryo transferred at a clinic in February and were over the moon when it worked.
Nancy, an administrator, from St. George, Utah, US, said at the time: “I never imagined I would be pregnant at 56 or that this would be possible, but it is the most beautiful thing.
“I never planned for it, but I had this feeling not long after Cambria’s traumatic birth that I should carry their baby, I told them I was willing but that I thought I would be old, but to my surprise, medics said I was healthy and could do it and here I am.
“The pregnancy was very similar to carrying my son, but I’ve been a bit more nauseous, my husband, Jeff, and Cambria were amazing throughout the pregnancy. I feel very powerful carrying my son’s daughter.”
Cambria, an owner of a dance studio, told SWNS at the time: “It is so humbling that Nancy is doing this for us. She is sacrificing so much for us, and our family and we just feel so grateful, It has been so miraculous and beautiful to watch Nancy carry our sweet baby girl.
“She has been nothing short of amazing and filled with so much light and grace. They say pregnancy comes with a glow, but Nancy’s is a full-on lighthouse.”
Jeff added: “I felt grateful to have such a selfless & loving mum that was willing to make that kind of sacrifice for my family. Having experienced over four years of infertility treatments, I knew how complicated the process can be and doubted that it was possible for her to carrier a baby for us – but I was very moved that she would even offer.
“The entire journey has left me in awe. I’m in awe of my Mom – her kindness, love, strength, attitude, wisdom, and dedication through this experience has been humbling and beautiful to witness.”
Nancy decided she wanted to be a surrogate for her son and his wife after her daughter-in-law was left unable to carry any more children when she had a hysterectomy to save her life in September 2021.
Cambria and Jeff brought up Nancy’s offer to the doctor and mentioned she had previously had five healthy children with no complications.
Ms Hauck said at the time: “The doctor turned around and said I might be able to be a carrier and asked if I wanted to come in for an exam to see if I was viable, I was shocked it might actually be an option but still very willing to do it for my son.”
The exam showed Ms Hauck was a viable carrier, but it was likely they needed to act quickly before she went into menopause.
She added: “I left the choice up to Jeff and Cambria, they’d just had their twins, so it was very quick after to have another baby, but they decided to go for it.”
Nancy started her hormone treatment in January 2022 and had injected herself every day for 12 weeks with the help of her husband and Jeff’s dad, Jason, 59, an optometrist.
Jeff and Cambria had already collected fertilised embryos from their other rounds of IVF, and Nancy had the embryos transferred in February 2022.
The brave soon-to-be grandmother said at the time: “It was a bit scary as it had been 26 years since I’d had a baby, I had a feeling just before the blood test that it had worked, and I did a test and it was positive so I called Jeff and Cambria first thing in the morning to tell them.
“They were over the moon when we found out for certain a few days later that I was pregnant.”
