In February, 2017, Morgan Williams had sister Maggie Paxton’s daughters Emery and Deeanna just over two years after the mum received the shock diagnosis.
Maggie Paxton’s dreams of being a mother were crushed when her doctor told her pregnancy could increase the progression of her breast cancer.
She said: “The oncologist told me if I were to ever get pregnant – because of the hormones – I would be putting my life at risk for the cancer to come back.”
Maggie and Danny were then told by a fertility specialist that if she frozen any eggs before to beginning chemotherapy, a surrogate mother may subsequently bear their children.
She said: “I don’t even know how surrogacy came up.
“The chemo was the priority, getting her through her treatment, because we knew it was going to be at least four months.
Her sister, Morgan Williams, was by her side throughout and was able to help Maggie build her family by agreeing to be Maggie’s surrogate.
Morgan Williams said she wanted to be the couple’s surrogate.
“I wanted it to be me, selfishly,” Morgan said. “As an older sister, I want to protect her, but I can’t protect her from cancer. So I kind of just stepped up and was like, ‘OK, if this is what I can do, then I will do it.’”
She carried and delivered Maggie’s twin girls, proving their sisterly bond is unbreakable.
In April 2016, Morgan started taking medication to suppress her ovaries to prepare her body to carry her sister’s babies.
Then, in June, Morgan’s embryos were placed inside her by a physician as Maggie and her husband Danny looked on. Days later, Morgan performed a number of covert home pregnancy tests, which revealed the surgery was successful.
Morgan said: “Maggie came over to my house a few nights later.
“By then I’d probably taken five pregnancy tests. I got up, went in my room, pulled out the tests and laid them all down.
“Maggie couldn’t believe it. She was in shock. When we showed Danny later he started crying.”
Eight months later, the Maggie were by Morgan’s side when she gave birth to their daughters – Emery, 5lbs 7oz, and Deeanna, who was 5lbs 12oz.
Maggie’s dream of motherhood came true when Williams gave birth to twin girls. The sisters say everyone is healthy.
Morgan said of the experience: “It was – and still is – so surreal, but it was all worth it.
“They’re great babies. I definitely feel a bond with them.”
Maggie, now a cancer-free new mum, feels nothing but overwhelming love and gratitude for her big sister, whose only request throughout was that they timed the pregnancy so she wasn’t “gigantic in the summer.”
She said: “Morgan and I have been close all our lives.
“These big life-changing things have happened – like her having her daughter, my diagnosis…
“They just brought us closer together. But I don’t know how you can top this.”
