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SALT LAKE CITY — It’s been said there is no greater love than a mother for her child, and that has never rung more true than with Iowa mom Susie Kozisek and her daughter Ashley Larkin.
Larkin is unable to have children of her own due to pulmonary hypertension. Larkin’s 53-year-old mother said she didn't want her daughter to miss out on the opportunity to be a mother, so, Kozisek was a gestational carrier for her daughter.
The 53-year-old mother of four gave birth to her twin granddaughters, Hallee and Hadlee in July.
“I’ve always been close with my mom even before this so that hasn’t changed and I’m grateful she will have such a special bond with her grandkids,” Larkin told ABC News.
A gestational carrier volunteers to carry a pregnancy for a mother who cannot do so herself. Eggs and sperm are harvested from the mother and father and then placed through in vitro fertilization into the carrier.
“I heard about the procedure on a talk show and decided to check the possibility of me doing this for them so they could have kids of their own if they wanted,” Kozisek said.
Hallee and Hadlee are actually the second and third child Kozisek carried from Larkin and her husband. In 2011, Kozisek gave birth to Larkin’s oldest daughter Harper.
