Grandmommy Dearest?

According to the news, a lady chose to have a baby for her daughter and became her grandchild’s surrogate mother. It is very admirable, I think, to be willing to give your love to a family so completely that one is willing to give life to a child for another person. One of my students did that for her sister because her sister would never be able to have a child. The women were very close and both loved the child deeply. Other young women I have met were willing to give their babies up for adoption because they were too young or too involved in the messes life sometimes hands us to be able to raise a child.

Still, this grandmother was 61 years old! As I sit here thinking about the many pregnant women who walk the halls of our schools, I see in my mind’s eye young women holding their backs and rubbing that protrusion that sticks out like a # 2 washtub. Then I think about a woman who may already have arthritic problems, glasses, maybe an upper plate, and swelling in her hands and feet. Put a nine month pregnancy on top of that and it sounds like sheer madness!

Of course, she won’t have to worry about getting up for those 2 a.m. feedings and the umpteen diapers that will need to be changed in the next few years. It’s probably a good thing that she won’t be responsible for caring for the child. It’s hard to imagine putting the baby down somewhere and trying to remember where!

It makes me wonder if the grandmother has a husband at home. Sitting here imagining what Fang would think if he had to sleep with a pregnant woman at our age…. Big evil grin! And SO glad that it would be impossible!