A year after an Irish American grandmother amazingly gave birth to her own grandson, mother Sara Connell has penned a memoir “Bringing in Finn” to share their emotional journey as a family.
The Daily Mail reports on the journey that saw Kristine Casey, then 61, give birth to her own grandson, an event dubbed a miracle by the family and onlookers.
In 2004, Sara Connell discovered that she was not ovulating, and thus turned to in vitro fertilization in hopes of getting pregnant. Though having an otherwise healthy pregnancy, she delivered twins still born in 2006, and later suffered a miscarriage.
Connell’s hope felt all but lost, but her mother Kristine Casey assured her that she would still find joy in life.
In her memoir, ‘Bringing in Finn,’ Connell recounts her struggles with fertility, and how she warmed to the idea she initially found repulsive of her mother acting as surrogate. Connell said "The idea of having a family member being open to doing this for us was so extraordinary for us."
Read more: Irish American Kristine Casey gives birth to her own grandson
Connell’s mother Casey had three healthily uneventful pregnancies herself, but the last one had been 30 years prior. Her husband Bill was worried that Casey becoming pregnant could be threatening to her health, but with modern medicine she had another smooth pregnancy.
Casey said, "At the beginning of 2009 I decided for once in my life to take some time to think about my life and find something that seemed right for me, where there was no pressure to do a specific thing."
She said that in realizing she could help her daughter, "I thought, 'Wow, three of the happiest days of my life were giving birth to my daughters,' and I thought I could choose to do this for someone I love."
Despite Casey’s age, she had yet another healthy pregnancy and delivered Finnean Lee via cesarean section in early 2011, much to the joy of the entire family.
"The surgery itself was uncomplicated,” said Dr. Susan Gerber, obstetrician and maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, “and the emotional context of this delivery was so profound."
Beyond the joy of having both a healthy mother and healthy son, Sara Connell is pleased to have found a rekindled relationship with her mother Kristine. "It grew beyond the two of us having a child. It was about the closeness with my mother, and our family having this experience that was unique and special."
Connell’s memoir ‘Bringing in Finn’ is available from Seal Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group.
Here’s ABC’s interview with this amazing family:
Comments