Kayla Jones, 29 from Texarkana, Arkansas, just wanted to start a family with her husband Cody. Unfortunately, she had undergone a partial hysterectomy aged just 17, which made her dream very difficult to realize, with grave pregnancy complications possible.
The solution was to find a surrogate mother. “My ovaries did not have to be removed so I am still able to have a child biologically mine, but I am unable to carry the child myself,” she told Love What Matters. “That’s why my husband and I had to use a surrogate pregnancy.”
Having tried unsuccessfully to find a suitable candidate, the couple decided to look a little closer to home. “My husband and I married in 2012 and my mother-in-law always joked about being our surrogate,” Kayla explained. “After a couple of our surrogate options did not work out, we started to take my mother-in-law more seriously.”
After a lot of tests, research and skeptical doctors, Cody's mother Patty was cleared to carry the couple's child. It didn't work out the first time around. “We were devastated but decided to give it one more try,” she said. “In May 2017 we found out we were pregnant!”
7 months later, their baby boy Kross Allen Jones was born, delivered by C-section. “I am so amazed at this sweet miracle. Having him via surrogacy was not always easy, and definitely not easy for Patty, but having him here makes all the hard days worth it.”
Things have worked out so well, is there a temptation to go through the process again and get a brother or sister for Kross? “Right now it is hard to say if we will have any more, I would love a big family, but affording the process again will be tough,” Kayla told Bored Panda. “We have also discussed adoption in the future, but that is also expensive. We will just lay it in God's hands and he will show us the way.”
The reactions to the family's happy if a slightly unusual story has been interesting for Kayla. “For the most part we have had great reactions to our story,” she told us. “Some people find it 'weird' but if they understood the process it might not seem so weird to them.”
And finally, what about the hero of the day, Grandma Patty? “Patty is doing great! She starts back to work next week. She says she feels blessed to have been able to do the journey. She has been so great.” With Kross healthy and sleeping well, the story has a truly happy ending. “I would like to add that our whole family has been wonderful,” Kayla said to Bored Panda. “They financially and emotionally supported us. I love seeing Kross with all his grandparents.”
Scroll down to see Kayla, Cody, Patty, and little Kross' pictures, and let us know what you think in the comments!
(h/t: Love What Matters)
This would seem like an ordinary family photoshoot until you notice the signs
Image credits: Helms Photography
Kayla and Cody had been searching for a surrogate mother with no success
Image credits: Kayla Jones
Until her mother-in-law, 50-year-old Patty Resecker, volunteered for the challenge
Image credits: Kayla Jones
“After much testing, my mother-in-law was cleared to carry our baby!”
Image credits: Helms Photography
Here is the fateful moment when the plan finally took off
Image credits: Kayla Jones
The next to know was the mother-in-law herself
Who, 7 months later, was expecting a healthy child
Image credits: Helms Photography
An occasion that they marked with a heartwarming photoshoot
Image credits: Helms Photography
“My ovaries did not have to be removed so I am still able to have a child biologically mine, but I am unable to carry the child myself”
Image credits: Helms Photography
“My husband and I married in 2012 and my mother-in-law always joked about being our surrogate”
Image credits: Helms Photography
“After a couple of our surrogate options did not work out, we started to take my mother-in-law more seriously”
Image credits: Helms Photography
“In May 2017 we found out we were pregnant!”
Image credits: Helms Photography
“I am so amazed at this sweet miracle. Having him via surrogacy was not always easy, and definitely not easy for Patty, but having him here makes all the hard days worth it”
Image credits: Kayla Jones