Grandmother will be a surrogate for her own grandchild: 49-year-old made offer after life-saving hysterectomy left her daughter, 31, unable to have children
- Chloe Simmons was given weeks to live unless she had a hysterecetomy
- The day after being diagnosed with placenta cancer, she had her womb removed
- Sherrie Zammit will have Ms Simmon’s egg and her fiancé’s sperm implanted
- They are in a race against time due to the risks of surrogacy rising with age
- The family are speaking out to raise money towards the legal proceedings
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A grandmother has offered to give birth to her own grandchild after a life-saving hysterectomy left her daughter unable to have any more children.
Sherrie Zammit, 49, from Gladesville, New South Wales, Australia, made the offer to Chloe Simmons, 31, after Ms Simmons was told she had just weeks to live unless she had her womb removed the day after being diagnosed with cancer in the area between her placenta and uterus lining.
Grandmother-of-one Ms Zammit has already undergone all of the necessary tests ahead of the surrogate pregnancy, which would involve implanting Ms Simmons’ egg and her fiancé Dimitri Pixomatis’ sperm.
Ms Zammit said: ‘I am scared of labour at 50 but the pain is only short term, the love for a lifetime and what a legacy I will leave behind.’
Yet they are in a race against time to start the procedure before Ms Zammit’s age makes her more at risk of gestational diabetes, high blood pressure or damage to the reproductive organs.
The family are speaking out to raise £35,000 towards the legal paperwork and court hearings that are needed for surrogacy under Australian law.
Grandmother Sherrie Zammit (right) has offered to give birth to her own grandchild after a life-saving hysterectomy left her daughter Chloe Simmons (left) unable to have any more children (also pictured are Ms Simmons’ son Issac, 10, and her fiancé Dimitri Pixomatis)
Ms Zammit (right) made the offer to Ms Simmons (left) after she was told she had just weeks to live unless she had her womb removed the day after being diagnosed with placental cancer
Ms Zammit (pictured with Ms Simmons as a baby in the 1980s) says she takes her role as a mother ‘very seriously’ and will do anything in her control to make her daughter happy
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WHAT IS SURROGACY?
Surrogacy is when a woman carries a baby for a couple who are unable to conceive or carry a child themselves.
Such couples may include those who have suffered recurrent miscarriages, repeated IVF failures, premature menopause or a hysterectomy.
The risks of being a surrogate mother are the same as for every pregnancy, and include nausea, heart burn and back ache.
In extreme cases, surrogates can suffer high blood pressure or gestational diabetes.
Straight surrogacy
This involves using the surrogate’s egg and the intended father’s sperm.
It is the least expensive and simplest form of the procedure.
Host surrogacy
Host surrogacy requires IVF with either the intended mother’s eggs or donor eggs rather than those of the surrogate.
In this case, the surrogate is genetically unrelated to the baby.
Donor eggs can be from friends or relatives, or anonymously donated.
What are the laws?
Surrogacy is legal in the UK, however, it cannot be advertised.
No third parties are allowed to be involved and surrogates can only receive payments to cover expenses incurred as a result of being pregnant.
The NHS can cover aspects of surrogacy procedures.
In the US, surrogacy costs around $100,000 (£75,879), with laws varying between states.
Source: Surrogacy UK
‘This is my privilege and my honour’
Mother-of-four Ms Zammit said: ‘I take my role as a mother very seriously and anything I can do to make them happy, if its in my control, I will do.
‘Chloe fought for her life and I was told to say goodbye to my daughter and to get ready to raise my grandson.
‘Chloe came through and fought a very rare cancer. The least I can do is give her life in the form of a grandchild.
‘This is my privilege and my honour to be healthy and young enough to give her this gift.’
She added: ‘I’ll be babysitting for nine months so I will be very careful with everything I do.
‘The labour will be very emotional with many feelings attached – excitement and a sense of completeness.’
‘It really is a race against time’
After her cancer diagnosis, Ms Simmons was told she would have just weeks to live unless she had her uterus removed, meaning she would be unable to have any more children naturally.
Ms Simmons, who is already mother to her son Issac, 10, said: ‘It was really, really scary but I knew I had to do it for my son.
‘Mum offered to be a surrogate on the spot. She said “I will carry your children – you just do what you need to do to get better”.
As well as the surgery, Ms Simmons underwent chemotherapy, which required she spend Isaac’s first birthday in an isolation ward due to her fragile immune system.
Five years after her diagnosis, Ms Simmons was given the all clear and told people she only wanted one child because she ‘didn’t want people to feel sorry for me’.
Yet when the then-single Ms Simmons later met Mr Pixomatis, a painter, she reminded her mother about her surrogacy offer.
Ms Simmons said: ‘We really are incredibly grateful.
‘It really is a race against time. Mum would do anything for us, but I can’t be selfish, so it needs to be done as soon as possible.’
Ms Simmons did not think she would take up her mother’s offer, until she met Mr Pixomatis
Ms Zammit was told to say goodbye to her daughter (pictured as a baby) after her diagnosis
After Ms Simmons (as a baby) fought for her life, Ms Zammit felt she owed it to give her a child
Ms Simmons (pictured with her son during chemotherapy) did not want a hysterectomy but underwent the procedure to ensure she would survive and be able to raise Issac
‘All I want is to give my daughter a precious gift’
Speaking of the legal setbacks involved in surrogacy, Ms Zammit said: ‘All I want is to give my daughter a precious gift. Medical science has worked how to do this, but the Government laws are taking this away.
‘I understand the law is there for a reason, but our situation is easier then if a stranger carries my grandchild, with the risk of them claiming the child at birth.’
Despite the amicable surrogacy agreement, Australian law requires a Supreme Court hearing and two sets of lawyers; totaling around £35,000 ($60,000 AUD).
Ms Simmons said: ‘ My mother is 49 and we don’t have much time.
‘We are reaching out to the community to help us realise our dream of completing our family.’
Donate here.
Ms Simmons (pictured during chemo) told people she just wanted one child after the surgery
Yet Ms Simmons (pictured right, with her mother) just said this so people would not pity her
Ms Zammit told her daughter to just focus on getting better, saying she would carry her child
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