A 50-year-old mother-of-eight from Utah has given birth to her own grandchild after offering to be her daughter’s surrogate following years of Fᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ sᴛʀᴜɢɢʟᴇs.

The Hee Haw Farms owner helped her daughter Kaitlyn carry the baby to term after having embryos implanted via in vitro Fᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ,  the newborn is genetically Kaitlyn and her husband Miguel Munoz’s child. She didn’t make the decision to become her daughter’s surrogate and embark on her ninth pregnancy ‘lightheartedly.’

Chalise is her mother, she gave birth to Kaitlyn 25 years ago, and now is the person giving birth to her grandaughter for her daughter.

Kaitlyn, who lives in El Paso, Texas, sᴜFFᴇʀs from ᴇɴᴅᴏᴍᴇᴛʀɪᴏsɪs, a condition where ᴛɪssᴜᴇ similar to the lining of the womb starts to grow in other places, such as the ᴏᴠᴀʀɪᴇs ᴀɴᴅ Fᴀʟʟᴏᴘɪᴀɴ tubes.  She had been sᴛʀᴜɢɢʟɪɴɢ to conceive for three years without avail when she and Miguel, a law graduate, agreed to try a round of IVF in 2019 that resulted in four embryos.  Kaitlyn told Mercury Press that she had two embryos implanted and got pregnant with her son, Callahan, whom she was able to carry on her own. She gave birth to the first child.  She had a dream to be a mother with lots of kids ever since she was a young girl.

After 2 years born the first baby, she want to have one more child, but she had an Fʟᴀʀᴇ-ᴜᴘ that led to her being diagnosed with Sjogren’s sʏɴᴅʀᴏᴍᴇ, an autoimmune ᴅɪsᴇᴀsᴇ that occurs when the immune system ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄᴋs the glands that make tears and saliva. In January 2021, Kaitlyn was told the autoimmune ᴅɪsᴇᴀsᴇ had ᴅᴀᴍᴀɢᴇᴅ her kidneys, and she wouldn’t be able to carry another pregnancy.

Her mother Chalise was ᴅᴇᴠᴀsᴛᴀᴛᴇᴅ by her daughter’s diagnosis, and after thinking long and hard about what to do, she offered to be her surrogate.

‘When my mom offered to be our surrogate, my mom did so amazing throughout the pregnancy and we had an amazing delivery experience. Grateful for my mom and her selflessness in this journey.’ Kaitlyn said

Kaitlyn’s husband and family were soon on board with the arrangement, and Chalise was medically cleared to carry her ninth pregnancy at age 49.  Chalise was six months pregnant with her granddaughter when she celebrated her 50th birthday at Disneyland with her children.  The healthy baby girl weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and was 21 inches long. Her name is Alayna Kait-Chalis

Kaitlyn shared photos of her mother in the hospital with her newborn daughter on Instagram the next day.

‘What an amazing experience the last 24 hours have been. I am at a loss for words. My mom is a living angel and brought us another blessing on earth’s side and we are in LOVE,’ she wrote in the caption.  her two-year-old son, Callahan, ‘adores her and wants to hold her all the time.’   Kaitlyn said

Kaitlyn and her husband are enjoying being a family of four at the moment, but she said they would be open to having more children down the line.