A 53-year-old grandmother in Iowa successfully gave birth to her twin granddaughters last month.
Susie Kozisek gave birth to baby Hallee and Hadlee in July, because her daughter, Ashley Larkin, has pulmonary hypertension, Medical Daily reported. The condition is caused by high blood pressure and prevented Larkin from safely getting pregnant.
This is actually the second time that Kozisek has paid such a heavy token in the labor of love--the grandmother was also the gestational carrier for her daughter's first child back in 2011. Both pregnancies did not have any complications.
Gestational carriers are typically used when a woman is unable to carry a pregnancy but wants to have her own biological children. The biological mother and father undergo in vitro fertilization and their fertilized embryos are then implanted in the carrier's uterus.
Dr. Jani Jensen, who performed the in vitro process for Kozisek and Larkin, told ABC News that while this situation was unusual, it is pretty common for a family member to act as a carrier.
"It's unusual for a mother to act as a gestational carrier for her own child, and she was at the older end of the spectrum for pregnancy," Jensen said. "But she was a good candidate, because she'd carried previous pregnancies successfully and was in excellent health."
She added: "They are a testament to the profound love a mother can have for her child. It is an incredible thing this mother did so her daughter could have children."
"I've always been close with my mom even before this, so that hasn't changed, and I'm grateful she will have such a special bond with her grandkids," Larkin told ABC.