When sisters act as surrogate mothers, and more

When sisters act as surrogate mothers

An Ohio woman who was told she was infertile will become a mother two times this summer, after her two sisters offered to act as her surrogates. When Tanya Ratcliff and her husband discovered that she could conceive but not carry a baby, her sisters, Tara and Cassie, stepped forward to carry the couple’s embryos to term. Both siblings underwent in vitro fertilization treatments and became pregnant within 10 weeks of each other—meaning Ratcliff will become a mother of two later this year. “It just blows my mind,” she said.

A perfect wedding at ages 85 and 97

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Larry Bushnell and Columba Rosaly are not letting anything get in the way of their perfect wedding—neither their ages (he’s 85, she’s 97) nor the fact that they don’t speak the same language. Bushnell met Rosaly, an Ecuadoran who speaks only Spanish, in his retirement home in Charlotte, N.C., and wooed her with notes translated into Spanish using the Internet. Each is now learning the other’s language with the help of translator Iris Newton, and they are set to exchange vows this weekend. “Love is universal,” said Newton. “If you like someone, it doesn’t matter if you speak the same language.”

Matt Grever's golden proposal

U.S. Olympic swimmer Matt Grevers won both the gold and the girl last week, securing first place in the 100-meter backstroke at the Missouri Grand Prix before proposing to his girlfriend on the podium. Grevers invited Annie Chandler, also a U.S. national team swimmer, to join him on the winner’s podium after receiving his gold medal—then dropped onto one knee to surprise her with an engagement ring he had hidden in his sweatpants. He later admitted to putting extra effort into this particular race. “If I didn’t get first,” he said, “it wouldn’t have really worked out so well.”