Woman, 51, carries baby for infertile daughter

After Breanna Lockwood, 29, battled infertility for several years, Julie Loving, her mother, insisted on carrying her baby for her.

Loving is Lockwood’s gestational surrogate, meaning an embryo made from Lockwood’s egg and her husband’s sperm was implanted into Loving’s uterus in February. She is now five months pregnant.

For Loving, the decision to carry her daughter’s child was obvious, she said.

“Breanna had wanted to be a mom since she was little,” Loving said. “When you see your child struggling with infertility, you do whatever you can to help.”

In the past four years, Lockwood has endured 476 injections, eight IVF embryo transfers, seven surgeries, two miscarriages — including one with twins — and an ectopic pregnancy. It became clear that she would probably never carry her own child.

Loving, who has completed two Boston marathons, felt she was still fit enough to carry a baby. At first, Lockwood wasn’t in favor of the idea, but after speaking with Dr. Brian Kaplan, they decided to run some tests.

“Normally, surrogates are under 45 years old,” said Kaplan, a fertility specialist at Fertility Centers of Illinois. “But I look at each case individually. You can have a woman who is 35 and very unhealthy, and a woman who is 55 and very healthy.”

Since announcing Loving’s pregnancy on her social media blog, Lockwood said she’s received mostly positive support.

“It’s not any different than a surrogate carrying someone else’s baby,” Lockwood said, “and I actually prefer that it’s my own mom because I feel more connected.”