A 53-year-old woman in Iowa carried and gave birth to her daughter’s children, reports the New York Daily News.  Susie Kozisek has four adult children.  One of them, Ashley Larkin, was unable to carry her own children due to pulmonary hypertension, which makes pregnancy dangerous.  When Larkin and her husband were looking into adopting, Kozisek offered to be the gestational carrier for their first child at the age of 49.

A gestational carrier only offers a womb, unlike a surrogate who donates her eggs as well.  The child is conceived through in vitro fertilization with the embryos implanted into the gestational carrier.  The first pregnancy was a success and Larkin and her husband had a daughter named Harper.  When the couple wanted another child, Kozisek again volunteered to be the gestational carrier.  Though the cutoff is normally 50 years of age, her first carrying experience went well and she was allowed to carry again.  This time, she gave birth to her twin granddaughters, Hadlee and Halle.

According to WebMD, the use of a surrogate or gestational carrier is one of the ways to address infertility.  In the case of Larkin, she may have been fertile, but her medical condition precluded a safe pregnancy.  For women that cannot carry a child because of difficulties conceiving, other treatment options include assisted reproduction, artificial insemination, fertility drugs, and treatment of underlying health conditions such as polycystic ovarian syndrome and endometriosis, which can damage fertility.

The use of a gestational carrier is also an option for women that have undergone or are currently undergoing cancer treatment.  Giuliana Rancic, a television show host, and her husband Bill had a baby through a gestational carrier, reports Today.  Giuliana was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2011 and cancer treatments meant she could not start a family.  Instead of delaying having a baby, they used a gestational carrier who carried their embryo to term.

Experts support family members as gestational carriers, according to the New York Daily News.  Normally, if a family member is willing to do it, it is a sister or sister-in-law that volunteers.  However, a grandmother is psychologically beneficial for the child because a grandmother can be expected to take good care of her future grandchild.  Though it may seem strange that a woman gave birth to her own grandchildren, the article reports that it has improved the familial bond and was well-received by most of their community.