A grandmother has given birth to her own grandchild – because her daughter was born without a womb.
Emma Miles, 55, who has already given birth to two of her own children, decided to give the ultimate gift to her daughter Tracey Smith, 31.
Mrs Smith feared she would never have a child of her own because of her genetic condition, until her mother offered to act as a surrogate.
Mrs Smith, whose ovaries still work normally, used IVF with her husband, Adam, 40, to create an embryo which was then implanted into her mother.
Mrs Miles shed six stone (38kg) to reach a healthy weight and took hormone medication to help the IVF work first time, and gave birth to healthy baby Evie by C-section.
Emma Miles, 55, (right) was a surrogate for her own daughter, Tracey, and her husband, Adam, because Tracey had been born without a womb so couldn’t have children naturally herself
Evie Smith was born by c-section on January 16th this year, weighing 7lbs 7oz – her parents Mr and Mrs Smith must now formally adopt her because parental rights automatically go to the surrogate and her partner – Mrs Smith’s parents
Mrs Smith said: ‘Every moment of heartache was so worth it just to have our little bundle in our arms. I am so grateful to mum for her amazing gift to us’
The couple got married two weeks later, in February, and this year Mrs Smith will celebrate her first Mother’s Day while thanking her own mother for her ‘amazing gift’.
She said: ‘Every moment of heartache was so worth it just to have our little bundle in our arms. I am so grateful to mum for her amazing gift to us.’
Mrs Smith, from Lampeter in Wales but now living in Coventry, found out she didn’t have a womb when she still hadn’t started her period by the age of 15.
Scans showed she had been born without a womb but she did have working ovaries and fallopian tubes.
At 16, Mrs Smith was diagnosed with Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser Syndrome (MRKH) – a condition which causes the vagina and uterus to be underdeveloped or absent, although external genitalia are normal.
The deformity affects around one in 5,000 women and is incurable. Doctors told a devastated Mrs Smith that she would never carry her own child.
At the time her mother, Mrs Miles, said she would do anything she could to help.
But it was almost 15 years later when Mrs Smith and her husband were considering fertility treatment and took Mrs Miles up on the offer.
Mrs Smith, a nursery worker, said: ‘When I was diagnosed it tipped my world upside down. I was heartbroken at the idea that I wouldn’t carry my own child.
‘I’d always known that I wanted to be a mum, even at 15.
Mr and Mrs Smith, pictured on their wedding day in February, two weeks after Evie was born, conceived their daughter using IVF and had the embryo implanted into Mrs Smith’s mother
Mrs Miles even lost six stone and took hormonal medication so she could be as healthy as possible for the pregnancy
Mrs Smith, pictured with her husband Adam, 40, found out she couldn’t have children of her own naturally when she was a teenager, because she had been born without a womb. However, she still has functioning ovaries
Mrs Miles, who had always intended to be her daughter’s surrogate if she wanted her to, said: ‘To find out that Tracey couldn’t have children was gutting to me… Despite my age I wasn’t worried about giving birth at all. All of my focus has been about doing this special thing for my daughter’
Mr Smith (left, with his mother-in-law) and his wife considered using a surrogate through an agency but were concerned about UK laws which mean the surrogate and her husband automatically become the legal parents of the baby
‘Straight after my diagnosis mum made an offer to do what she could to help. I knew that she meant one day she’d carry my child for me.
‘Over the years she mentioned it in passing but we never really made a firm plan.
‘It was only after I met Adam and we got engaged in 2016 that he broached the subject of children.’
The couple considered using a surrogacy agency but were apprehensive because of the UK’s ‘outdated’ laws.
‘The law in this country gives the surrogate – and her husband if she has one – all parental rights from birth and that felt like a huge risk,’ Mrs Smith said.
Instead, she turned to her mother and asked if she had been serious when she offered to help all those years ago.
She said: ‘I remembered mum’s promise to me.
‘So the next time we met up I asked her if she’d been serious about carrying our baby.
‘I was delighted when she replied: “Of course I was”. She had just been waiting for me to ask.’
Mrs Smith’s father, Robert Miles, 61, offered his support, too, and made sure it was put in writing through a solicitor that they would happily give parental rights to Mr and Mrs Smith once the baby was born.
Then his wife lost six stone and took hormone tablets to prepare her body for the pregnancy.
The IVF process involved taking an egg from Mrs Smith’s still-functioning ovaries and fertilising it in a laboratory – so it could be placed into Mrs Miles’s womb to grow.
Against the odds, it was successful at the first attempt.
And, on January 16 this year, Evie Siân Emma Smith was born at 7lbs 7oz by caesarean section.
Mrs Smith said: ‘Adam and I were allowed to both stay by mum’s side as Evie came into the world.
‘It was such an incredible emotional moment. I was so nervous that everything would go well for mum and for the safe arrival of our baby.
‘Adam saw Evie come into the world because of a reflection on the lamps in surgery and I just waited to hear that cry and burst into happy tears.’
Now the couple are going through the legal process of formally adopting Evie.
Mrs Miles, who is also mother to Nicola, 24, said: ‘To find out that Tracey couldn’t have children was gutting to me.
Mrs Smith said: ‘Adam saw Evie come into the world because of a reflection on the lamps in surgery and I just waited to hear that cry and burst into happy tears’
Because of British law, Mrs Smith’s parents are the legal parents of Evie, so the couple have to officially adopt their daughter
‘She rarely felt able to open up but when I had the chance just after her diagnosis I remember sitting on her bed and saying: “I’m here if you need me.”
‘Despite my age I wasn’t worried about giving birth at all. All of my focus has been about doing this special thing for my daughter.
‘I don’t feel anymore attachment to Evie than any other proud grandmother. Tracey is my baby and I did it all for her to be a mother.
‘Now I’m glad to be back to work and getting back to normal. But I have offered to do it all again if they ever want a little brother or sister for Evie.’
WHAT IS MAYER ROKITANSKY KUSTER HAUSER?
Rokitansky Syndrome, or MRKH (Mayer Rokitansky Küster Hauser), is a congenital abnormality characterised by the absence of the vagina, womb and cervix.
Women suffering from the condition will have normally functioning ovaries, so will experience the normal signs of puberty – but will not have periods or be able to conceive.
The external genatalia are completely normal which is why MRKH isn’t usually discovered until women are in their teenage years.
Rokitansky Syndrome, or MRKH (Mayer Rokitansky Küster Hauser), is a congenital abnormality characterised by the absence of the vagina, womb and cervix
Many women are able to create a vaginal canal using dilation treatment, which uses cylinder shaped dilators of different sizes to stretch the muscles.
However, if this is unsuccessful then surgery will be used to stretch the vaginal canal.
Following treatment women are able to have intercourse and can have their eggs removed and fertilised to be used in surrogacy. However, those without ovaries won’t ever be able to have children because they don’t produce any eggs.
It affects one in 5,000 live female births, according to an 1985 article in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine.
Source: Centre for Disorders of Reproductive Development & Adolescent
