By Ashleigh / Dec 19, 2022
Surrogacy
After being matched with a surrogate, one woman wound up getting more than she bargained for when she learned she was pregnant with twins. What happened next was a medical miracle. In the fall of 2015, Jessica decided to become a surrogate.
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It was six months after the birth of her second son. Her husband said to her, “This is your chance to give a family the blessing of a child.”
Unexpected News
So in April 2016, after taking numerous medications, Jessica was ready for the transfer. She laid on a table at an IVF center and had Liu’s frozen male embryo transferred into her uterus.
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Fast forward six weeks later, and Jessica headed to her doctor’s appointment for a scan. During the appointment, the doctor said, “I see there is another baby.” He told Jessica that the embryo had split into two and the twins were identical. She was speechless that she was actually carrying twins.
Pregnant With Twins
Jessica figured this news would be a miracle for Liu. Instead of getting one baby, she would be getting two. As expected, Liu and her husband were thrilled and the money they were paying Jessica increased.
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Her $30,000 payment, including expenses, which Jessica received in installments by check each month, was increased by $5,000 for the second child…
Delivery
Finally, on December 12, 2016, the babies were born at 38 weeks gestation at Riverside Community Hospital in California. Liu was in the operating room and was witness to seeing her twins born.
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Jessica had to have a C-section and she had to reassure Liu that she would be ok since she was the most nervous.
Recovering After The Birth
Back home as she recovered from her C-section.
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Then, on January 10, 2017, days after Jessica and Wardell moved into their new house, they received a WeChat (Chinese messaging app) message from Liu.
They Looked Completely Different
Liu sent her a picture of the babies saying, “They are not the same, right?” followed by, “Have you thought about why they are different?” Since she barely got to see the babies after their birth, this was the first time Jessica got a good look at them. After taking one glance, it was obvious that one of the babies was Asian, and the other was half black and half white…
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One week later, the boys, who were still in California, received DNA tests and the agency told Jessica the results. Mike was a biological match to Liu, while Max had her genes. She had been carrying her own son along with someone else’s all along. But how was this possible?
The Medical Phenomenon Of Superfetation
The phenomenon of superfetation happens when someone who is pregnant manages to conceive again after an entirely different sperm and egg join together. Basically, it means you can get pregnant, while you’re already pregnant…
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Even though the chance of an embryo splitting is very small, it does happen, which is how Jessica wound up being pregnant with twins. “I did notice that one was much lighter than the other,” Jessica said.
Legal Battle
A few days later, the agency told Jessica that someone was looking after Max because Liu wanted nothing to do with him. On top of that, Liu was demanding between $18,000- $22,000 as compensation for the inconvenience.
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Jessica had already spent most of the money she earned from the surrogacy contract, but besides that, she thought she would need to pay to get her biological son back. But her first priority was getting Max, no matter what the cost and she demanded her son from the agency…
Getting Custody Of Their Little Boy
After spending money on an attorney and enduring an uphill battle, the agency finally reduced the “fee” Jessica owed Liu to zero.
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Then, on February 5, Jessica and Wardell were reunited with their son and they changed his name to Malachi.
Renaming Him Malachi
It was an emotional moment getting Malachi and the family has been loving him like crazy. “He’s beautiful,” Jessica said. “He’s healthy and his personality is hilarious. He loves his big brothers, and he is learning to walk and speak.”
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All of the difficulties Jessica had endured was finally worth it when she got to hold her baby boy.
A Twisted Turn Of Events
Susan Ring had also had a few attempts at being a surrogate. But things took a strange turn when she agreed to carry a child for one couple.
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At first, everything seemed to be going smoothly but that quickly changed when Susan gave birth to the baby. That was when things took a drastic turn.
First Attempt
Susan met the couple and they came to an agreement. During the pregnancy, all was well but as soon as the baby was born Susan could sense that something wasn’t right.
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The couple didn’t seem happy and they told Susan that they wanted to try again. Susan didn’t feel like she should do it again but she put those feelings aside and proceeded.
Second Attempt
In May of 2001, she had an ultrasound done that revealed she was carrying triplets. Susan instantly knew that the mother wouldn’t be happy about it but she had no idea how far the couple would be willing to go.
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When she told them it took them some time to digest the news and then they asked her to do something completely unexpected.
Unsatisfied With Triplets
As Susan suspected the couple was not happy with having triplets and they asked her to reduce the pregnancy to twins.
Susan was reluctant to proceed with their request. But there was nothing she could do about it. When she tried to speak her mind they even went as far as to threaten her.
No Choice But To Reduce
The couple told Susan that if she didn’t reduce the pregnancy she would be breaching the contract.
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Because of that, she was forced to go through with it. But things didn’t end there. That was just the start of the madness. The situation was about to get a whole lot worse.
Four Months Later
When Susan was around four months pregnant with the twins she started having trouble getting in touch with the parents.
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She couldn’t get a hold of them, they weren’t calling her and for a while, it seemed like they were nowhere to be found. It wasn’t until the agency arrived at her doorstep that she learned the truth.
A Visit From The Agency
It took a while but when the people from the agency came to her home they told Susan that the parents no longer wanted the twins. They were getting a divorce and had run out of money.
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Susan didn’t know what to say or to believe. Surely they wouldn’t just abandon the pregnancy like that, would they?
Utter Disbelief
The news was very hard to process and Susan was still in a state of disbelief. If the couple really decided to go down that route they would not only leave her with a bunch of problems, they would be abandoning two innocent babies.
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What would become of the children once they were born? How did they expect Susan to cover all the expenses related to the pregnancy?
Not Knowing What To Do
Susan had no idea what she was going to do. She was due in a month and she still couldn’t get any answers.
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Since they weren’t answering her calls Susan decided to drive to their condo but they refused to open the door. So she called the mother and demanded an explanation. The mother simply told her that the father had bipolar and that the children would go to social services once they were born.
In Denial
Susan was still in denial when she gave birth on the 29th of November 2001. She just couldn’t believe that the parents wanted nothing to do with the twins.
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The severity of the situation didn’t kick in until social services arrived at the hospital claiming they were there for the twins.
Social Services Arrive
Susan was stunned. There was nothing she could do. The parents still had parental rights over the children even though they wanted nothing to do with them. And they told social services that they wanted the twins to be put into foster care.
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But Susan couldn’t let it happen. She couldn’t just let the children be abandoned because their parents gave up on them like that.
Getting Legal Advice
Susan got in touch with her attorney to find out if there was a way to stop that from happening. However, she had no rights over the children now that they were born.
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Her attorney advised her not to sue the parents. But she couldn’t just walk away, not after everything she went through to satisfy her parents’ demands.
A Case For Breach Of Contract
Susan proceeded with a legal case. She filed a lawsuit for breach of contract which she was entitled to since they gave up so early in the pregnancy.
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But the case never went to court. As soon as the lawsuit was filed and the parents were notified they got in contact with Susan.
Gaining Parental Rights
The parents made an offer. If Susan dropped the case they would give up their parental rights. Susan agreed.
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The twins stayed with Susan and her family for three months after that but she knew she couldn’t keep them forever. She set out to find them a family who would want them and give them the love they deserved.
Giving Them Up For Adoption
And that was exactly what she did. Susan found the twins an amazing home with a loving family. Today they are about nineteen years old and still have a relationship with her.
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Susan welcomed her third biological child in 2012 and was looking for a surrogate of her own in 2016. She stated, “I decided that I want another baby, but this time I’m the one looking for a surrogate. My fertility was everything to me. A lot of women know when they’re done having babies and I never got that memo.”
In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual events, places, or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.