Surrogate Grandma Gives Gift of Triplets
Nov. 11, 2008 — -- The 56-year-old grandmother who carried triplets as a surrogate for her daughter said she's feeling great after the Oct. 11 delivery by Caesarean section.
"I feel like my normal self, ready to go back to work and whatever," said Jaci Dalenberg of Wooster, Ohio, today on "Good Morning America."
The three healthy baby girls, Elizabeth Jacilyn, Carmina Ann and Gabriella Claire, were born nine weeks early and are still in the hospital, but they should be released soon, said the triplets' mom, Kim Coseno.
Kim and Joe Coseno met six years ago, and when they got married, they dreamed about extending their family. Kim already had two children, Brittini and Colin, but wanted to bring more love into their home.
Surgery had left Kim unable to give birth herself, and the couple's multiple attempts at adoption had failed.
The Cosenos nearly lost hope when Kim's mom made the extraordinary offer to act as a surrogate for them.
"It just popped into my head, and I thought if I could do it, I would do it. I approached Kim about it and went from there," Dalenberg said.
Dr. Robert Kiwi, who treated Dalenberg, said she was menopausal, making it unlikely she could carry a child, much less three. "There are very few women who could be gestational carriers at this point in their lives," Kiwi said.
Dalenberg went through a battery of tests to make sure it was safe and then had three rounds of in vitro fertilization over the course of two years before she became pregnant. She is believed to be one of the oldest surrogates ever and the oldest to carry triplets.
Coseno said she is astounded by what her mother went through to make her dream come true.
"Just the fact that she would sacrifice so much of her time. ... And just putting her life on hold for us," she said. "And that she would even just approach us to do this, to make us happy, to complete our life and fulfill us, is the greatest gift that I ever have been given in my whole life. I'm beyond belief. I am touched, so deep in my heart."
