From online story to unreal pregnancy
Rebecca Keil got to know Tess Dunford and her partner through Instagram. Now she’s carrying their baby, reports Marine´ Lourens.
Offering to be a surrogate for someone you hardly know might seem unthinkable to some. For Rebecca Keil, 29, it was a no-brainer.
‘‘As someone coming from a large family and having two children myself, I couldn’t imagine having only one child and that not being by choice.
‘‘The thought of carrying someone’s baby . . . wasn’t a hard decision.’’
Keil, a social media influencer from Christchurch, got to know Tess Dunford and her partner, Dan Stemp, through Instagram. Dunford and Stemp live in Wellington and have their own home decor company, Dontbeadoormat.
Dunford shared the story of the traumatic birth of their daughter on social media. Due to complications during the birth, Dunford had to have multiple blood transfusions and ultimately an emergency hysterectomy to save her life.
She woke up from surgery to their beautiful baby girl, Indi, and the devastating news she would never be able to carry another child. Indi was 5 months old when they decided to try for another baby using a surrogate. Doctors had managed to keep Dunford’s ovaries intact, so the couple could have another child who had their DNA through surrogacy. Keil decided she wanted to help after Dunford published a story on Instagram saying they were going to start looking for a surrogate.
Her husband was fine with the idea, as long as they didn’t keep the baby, she says.
Both couples underwent a series of medical tests and months of counselling through Fertility Associates to ensure they knew what they were in for.
‘‘We’ve gotten to know each other super well, which is a big part of [the surrogacy process],’’ Keil says.
In November, Dunford and Stemp travelled to Christchurch where Dunford’s eggs were retrieved, fertilised and frozen. One of the embryos was transferred to Keil in March, and her pregnancy was confirmed less than two weeks later.
Dunford and Stemp were excited that they would get the first glimpse of their unborn child at Keil’s six-week ultrasound, but then New Zealand went into Covid-19 lockdown.
‘‘It is already hard not being the one protecting and nurturing your child and then you add the pandemic in, and it is like a double whammy of just feeling really helpless,’’ Dunford says.
They were able to be at the ultrasound virtually though, a moment she described as incredible.
Despite the distance between them, they are sharing the journey as much as possible.
‘‘It is just such an amazing, incredible, exciting thing. I can’t wait for them to get this child,’’ Keil says.
Fertility Associates medical director Dr Sarah Wakeman says infertility is much more common than generally thought. ‘‘About one in five couples will have difficulty becoming pregnant at some point.’’
While Dunford’s medical history meant surrogacy was their only option, there are a range of treatments available including ovulation induction, intra uterine insemination and in vitro fertilisation.
For Dunford and Stemp, their family journey has been very different from what they had expected, but it was worth all the ups and downs.
‘‘We wanted to share our story to normalise the different ways of having a baby and make people see that this is wonderful,’’ Dunford says.
National leader Simon Bridges has written to the prime minister asking her to lift the cap on people attending religious services, which is currently set at 10 under coronavirus alert level 2. ‘‘New Zealanders find it inconsistent that you allow large numbers of people at bars, restaurants or sporting events but continue to deny more than 10 people gathering for religious services,’’ Bridges wrote.The cap on gatherings has been politically contentious. Funerals and tangi had initially had attendance capped at 10 people, but this has been relaxed to 50. ‘‘It was right to increase the number of people who can attend funerals and tangi – it is right to do the same for our faith communities,’’ Bridges wrote. The Government has been concerned that gatherings of large groups of people could allow Covid-19 to spread easily, as restrictions are relaxed.
Air New Zealand will resume flights to and from Taupo¯ and Timaru next month, with the country now in coronavirus alert level 2. There had been a good customer response to its recently released schedule, and it would restart the two routes on June 8, said Air NZ head of networks Scott Carr. Having grounded most of its fleet during the lockdown, the airline has started flying to most of its domestic ports since the move to alert level 2. ‘‘We’re pleased to be able to restart both our Taupo¯-Auckland and TimaruWellington routes early next month, and we know this news will be welcomed by these towns and their wider regions,’’ Carr said. ‘‘Bringing Taupo¯ and Timaru back into our domestic schedule means we’ll soon operate to all 20 of the domestic destinations we serviced pre Covid-19, albeit with reduced frequencies.’’ Air NZ will start with three return flights a week between Taupo¯ and Auckland, and three extra flights per week between Timaru and Wellington.