Story last updated at 11:07 a.m. Tuesday, March 2, 2004Double Duty
Woman gives birth to twin grandchildren
By JOHN DAVIS
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
She's done skydiving, scuba diving and she's even piloted planes.
But for 52-year-old Marianne Thoms of Levelland, those thrills pale in comparison to bringing her granddaughters into the world.
Marianne, who served as a surrogate mother to her eldest son and daughter-in-law's children, gave birth to 3.8-pound Sydney and 3.6-pound Morgan on Sunday at Covenant Medical Center.
</MCC PHOTOTABLE>It's the first set of girls born to the Reed family in two generations, Marianne said, and an unforgettable experience.
Robin O'Shaughnessy / A-J Photo Traci Reed of Dripping Springs reflects back on the process which led to her mother-in-law, Marianne, to give birth to her twin girls Sunday night, February 29th, 2004, at Covenant Hospital. "I think I was a lot more sensitive to how fragile life is and the possibilities about what might happen," Marianne said of her pregnancy, which followed a 28-year interval. "I don't think you think about how fragile life is at 22 and 23."
After trying five years to get pregnant, her son and daughter-in-law, Shawn and Traci Reed of Dripping Springs, learned that Traci couldn't carry a child.
Complications from a miscarriage had caused scar tissue to grow in her uterus, she said. Despite different procedures to fix the problem, doctors finally told the couple that children wouldn't be possible, Traci said.
</MCC PHOTOTABLE>Unless they could find someone to carry their children to term.
Robin O'Shaughnessy / A-J Photo Sydney and Morgan Reed as they are wheeled into the hallway Sunday, Feb. 29, 2004, at Covenant Hopsital. "The doctor said to look to your family for someone who could carry," Shawn Reed said. "I didn't think there was anyone in my family who could."
"Our doctor said one of y'all's mothers would be an ideal surrogate," Traci said.
Marianne Thoms stepped forward and offered to carry the children.
</MCC PHOTOTABLE>"It was more kind of a spur-of-the-moment deal," Marianne said. "I was really surprised at the support from all the people I knew and people I didn't know. I expected some curiosity and negative comments, but I didn't get any of that."
Robin O'Shaughnessy / A-J Photo Marianne Thoms smiles up at her husband, Max, during the interview about her giving birth to her granddaugters Sunday night, February 29th, 2004, at Covenant Hospital. Shawn and Traci selected a clinic in San Antonio to do the in-vitro procedure. Marianne underwent pre-natal care and gave birth in Lubbock.
It's highly unusual for a woman of Marianne's age to carry children, said Marianne's obstetrician, Dr. Ronnelle Burley.
The pregnancy wasn't without some complications.
</MCC PHOTOTABLE>Marianne's pre-eclampsia, which developed about six weeks ago, could have been caused by Marianne's age, Burley said.
Robin O'Shaughnessy / A-J Photo The Thoms and Reed family at Covenant Hospital Sunday night, February 29th, 2004. Front: Traci Reed, left, Marianne Thoms, right Back: Max Thoms, left and Shawn Reed. Pre-eclampsia is a syndrome of abnormal conditions during pregnancy that includes hypertension and edema. Its causes are unknown.
It's common in younger and older mothers, Burley said.
The children and their parents, however, do not have to worry about chromosomal abnormalities associated with pregnancies in older women, Burley said, because the egg came from Traci.
"Rarely do you see any 52-year-old pregnant women, whether it's a surrogate or natural birth," Burley said. "It went well. She was about eight weeks early. Beside that, it went absolutely OK.
</MCC PHOTOTABLE>"It's been different. I just think for any woman to do something to the point of allowing someone to use their body for 40 weeks to be pregnant says a lot about that woman," Burley said. "And for someone to have had all these problems and been a trooper about it also says a lot."
Robin O'Shaughnessy / A-J Photo Shawn Reed flips through photographs family members brought in from the birth of his twin girls Sunday night, February 29th, 2004, at Covenant Hospital. Traci said, "How many grandmothers can say they carried their granddaughters — literally?"
Having a pregnant wife in the house after so many years took some getting used to, said Marianne's husband, Max Thoms, an electrician.
"She came to me and asked me what do I think about it," said Max. "I thought about it a lot. You do lots of things for your kids. When you get rewarded like this, you just can't put a price on it. We've got two pretty little girls out of it. We're going to keep them ... Or actually, they're going to keep them."
Marianne said she won't carry any more children for her children.
And that's OK, she said. She's eager to be a grandmother.
"It was real exciting, but I'm looking forward to playing with them," she said.
johnw.davis@lubbockonline.com 766-8713
