After beating cancer, Emily became a mom— thanks to her high school track coach!

Emily Bennett Taylor was just 28 and looking forward to starting a family when she was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer and would begin the fight of her life. But miracles do happen. And angels do exist . . .

Hiking through the Santa Monica Mountains, Emily Bennett Taylor stopped for a moment.

For weeks, the 28-year-old former state track champ and volleyball player had been trying to shake an irritating dry cough.

“Must be allergies,” Emily commented to her husband, Miles, when she got her breath back.

But something didn’t feel . . . right. So once back home in Long Beach, California, Emily saw a pulmonologist, who sent her for a CT scan, then a biopsy. And now, the doctor’s face paled.

“I’m so sorry. You have stage IV lung cancer . . .”

Fighting to survive

Cancer? How? Emily cried. She was young, active, healthy— and had never smoked. Yet doctors said she had only a 1% chance of surviving.

She and Miles had just celebrated their second anniversary. They’d been planning to start a family. She wept for all her unrealized dreams

As Miles held her, she tried to stop her tears. There was still 1%. I can’t give up on myself. I can’t give up on my dreams, Emily realized.

So before beginning chemotherapy, Emily and Miles visited a fertility specialist. Retrieving Emily’s eggs and mixing them with Miles’ sperm, the lab created and froze nine embryos.

Framing the shadowy images, Emily hung her hope for her future on her bedroom wall.

“Those embryos became my motivation. For me, they were a symbol of hope. They were proof I was no longer just fighting for myself. I was fighting for my future family,” Emily recalls.

And Emily needed every bit of fight she could muster as she endured eight rounds of aggressive chemo. Miles became her tireless coach, caretaker and cheerleader, researching medical journals and bringing her triple chocolate protein shakes—sometimes the only thing she could keep down.

After chemo stopped the tumor from growing and spreading, Emily underwent surgery to remove her diseased right lung, followed by 28 rounds of high-dose radiation.

There were moments she felt so exhausted she didn’t know if she could go on. But then Emily would look at the framed pictures and think: Someday ... “Thank You, God!” Emily rejoiced when, after months of treatment, her tests showed no evidence of disease! And she had only one question: “When can we have a baby?” As every medical test returned with flying colors, finally, her oncologist gave her the go-ahead! But since pregnancy hormones have been shown to spark recurrence in some women, doctors recommended Emily use a surrogate.

Miles and I are beyond excited to push the “play” button again on life and start our own family! But we can’t do it alone: We will need a surrogate, Emily wrote on her blog.

It felt strange and embarrassing to ask anyone for such an incredible favor. But maybe . . .

Meanwhile, more than 2,000 miles away in Lexington, Kentucky, 39-yearold mom of three Angela Stark saw Emily’s post.

Angela had been Emily’s high school track coach. Emily was amazing then. And she’s amazing now! Angela beamed, reading Emily had beaten cancer. Angela had sent cards and flowers. Yet, she’d wished there was something more she could do. Now, turning to her husband, Angela said, “This is something I can do!”

The miracle of life

Soon, Angela e-mailed Emily: Let’s do this! “You’d do this for me?” Emily marveled.

“Absolutely!” Angela replied. And after several cross-country trips, medical tests and hormones to prepare her body for pregnancy, two of Emily and Miles’ embryos were transferred into Angela’s womb.

Unfortunately, neither resulted in pregnancy.

“I’m so sorry,” Angela sighed. But Emily wasn’t deterred. “I’ve been through enough to know you can beat the odds!” she said. And after a second procedure, Angela had amazing news: “We’re pregnant!”

Emily and Miles flew to Kentucky for the first ultrasound—which showed not one, but two little hearts fluttering on the screen! “Twins!” Emily gasped. Over the next weeks, Emily and Angela texted and Skyped daily.

“Look how your babies are growing!” Angela laughed, showing the ever-growing arc of her belly.

Those are my babies in there! Emily marveled when she visited and Angela placed her hand on her belly to feel the babies’ kicks. And soon, she was beside Angela as Hope and Maggie came into the world via C-section.

“The last time I was in an OR, it was to save my life. Now, because of you, I have these two new lives to love!” Emily hugged Angela.

Today, the two moms’ bond is stronger than ever.

“You are the happiest mom in the world!” ‘Auntie’ Angela beams as Emily sends her pictures of the girls learning to crawl.

“I have a whole new chance at life, my husband, my baby girls and my angel, Angela,” Emily says. “That makes me the happiest mom and the luckiest woman in the world, too!”

A strong positive attitude will create more miracles than any drug.” wonder PATRICIA NEAL