When she found out her son, Matthew Eledge, and his husband, Elliot Dougherty, were looking for someone to carry their baby, Cecile Eledge suggested a person she thought would be the perfect candidate: herself.
Cecile, 61, says they laughed at the idea, but once a doctor told them she actually was the ideal candidate, everyone got on board. "I was just so excited to be able to be part of this adventure with them," Cecile told NBC News, adding, "It was just unconditional love."
For their egg donor, Matthew and Elliot chose Elliot's sister, Lea Yribe, but they struggled when it came time to find a gestational surrogate. "Nebraska is a bit more conservative, and we were hesitant to go into agencies, and had a bit of fear that maybe some things would hold us back as a gay couple," Matthew said. That's when his mom stepped in, and the rest is now history.
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Cecile safely delivered her nearly six-pound granddaughter, Uma Louise Dougherty-Eledge, last Monday at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Everyone is doing great, and the new dads are looking forward to one day telling Uma about her birth story.
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