A Florida woman gave birth to her own grandchildren through in vitro fertilization after her daughter was treated for cervical cancer.
Ann Stolper, 59, of Delray Beach, gave birth in December to Itai and Maya Chomsky, the twin children of her daughter, Caryn Chomsky, The Miami Herald reported Saturday.
Caryn was 25 when diagnosed with cancer in 2005. She underwent a life-saving hysterectomy and radiation after doctors harvested her eggs. Having put the cancer behind them, Caryn and her husband, Ayal, began considering options for a family when her mother stepped in.
"I made the suggestion," said Stolper, then 57. "How about if I carry a child or children?"
In general, doctors won't implant an embryo in a woman older than 55. But Stolper's heart health, blood pressure and fitness made her a candidate so she was implanted with her daughter's eggs fertilized with Ayal's sperm.
The twins arrived Dec. 1, six weeks early but healthy, by Caesarian section at Boca Raton Community Hospital. The Chomskys said the family came forward about the births to promote a new vaccine, Gardasil, that prevents the virus causing cervical cancer.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International
