TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Birth Mom Breaks New Ground

ADVERTISEMENT

By JAN HOLLINGSWORTH

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 16, 2008

PLANT CITY - And babies make five.

It may take two to tango, but it took three to make the babies a Plant City woman delivered last month on behalf of a South Florida couple.

Ashley Alice and Lucas Edwin Newman arrived June 3 at South Florida Baptist Hospital. Officials there said it is the first time a surrogate mother has given birth at the facility.

Technically, Tonya Browning, 33, was not a surrogate, but a "gestational carrier" whose womb nurtured the embryos created by the couple, who asked that their names not be used to protect the family's privacy.

"It was their eggs and sperm," said Browning, who works as an animal control officer for Hillsborough County.

Browning's two daughters, ages 6 and 11, have been in on the project from the beginning and were among the first to greet the twins when they arrived.

"The girls thought they were absolutely adorable. But they knew from the get-go that these were not their brother and sister," she said.

Browning's husband, John, had attended all of his wife's prenatal appointments and was present in the delivery room.

"He went to every appointment, every ultrasound," she said. "He's a real sweetheart."

Meanwhile, the biological parents sat vigil in the waiting room while Tonya Browning delivered their second son and first daughter. The couple rushed to Plant City the night before when the Brownings notified them that Tonya's blood pressure had risen too much to wait any longer.

Lucas weighed in at 7 pounds, 5 ounces; Ashley was 5 pounds, 7 ounces.

"They were perfect," Tonya Browning said.

The twins are full biological siblings of their older brother, Jack, age 31/2, whose difficult birth precluded his mother from carrying more children.

"We knew if we wanted any more, we'd have to use a gestational carrier," the twins' father said.

The couple thought about it for about two years and started looking for a suitable surrogate early last year. In June, they found Browning through an organization called Open Arms Consulting.

"Obviously, we wanted someone healthy with a healthy lifestyle," the twins' father said. "Tonya was just great. She took care of things that needed taking care of and did everything by the book."

Browning said she had thought about being a surrogate for some time, having offered to have a baby for an aunt who could not conceive. The aunt opted for adoption.

"Then I saw this thing on TV about surrogate parents and how they needed good, clean, sober people. I just didn't realize how many people out there need surrogates," she said.

Browning talked it over with her kids and her then-fiance, John.

"He immediately was right on board with it," she said.

Still, there was a hint of sadness when, after four days of both families visiting with the babies, the twins and their parents headed home.

"I think the first couple of days we both had a little withdrawal," she said. "I'm really happy for them, though."

The couple paid Tonya Browning's medical and travel expenses. And there was some additional compensation. That wasn't the overriding motivation, Browning said.

"I was happy to give them these babies."

Browning said she and her husband may consider surrogacy one more time, or may consider having one of their own.

Carrying twins was a lot tougher than carrying one, she said. The hardest part, though, was getting her body primed with hormones to prepare for the embryos to be implanted.

"It was a month's worth of a bunch of needles to get your body ready for the process," she said.

The twins' parents and the Brownings remain in touch, as they have throughout the pregnancy.

"It was a great experience," the father said. "We were very happy to have found Tonya."

It helped, from everyone's perspective, that the babies are not biologically linked to their "carrier." "I don't know if we would have gone through with it," the father said of their ability to use his wife's eggs.

For now, the proud dad is on leave from his job to tend to the new additions to the family. His wife, a chemist, plans to take over in a few weeks. The couple hope to alternate caring for the twins until at least September, when they will look into day care, he said.

With two mouths to feed simultaneously, he contemplates whether there are more babies on the horizon.

"In retrospect, we're glad they weren't triplets, because I don't have a third hand," he said. "Still, we've got nine more embryos, just ready to go."

Reporter Jan Hollingsworth can be reached at (813) 865-4436 or jhollingsworth@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT