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Twist of Fate
Twin Girls Share
Gene Pool, Different Birth Mothers
July 14, 2004
— When Shelli Dreifurst walked
into Danette Dykstra's hair salon, all she expected to
get was a nice haircut. But she walked out with a new
relationship that would change their lives forever and
make them the mothers of an unusual pair of twins.
Dreifurst and Dykstra
were strangers, but their conversation became intimate
during that first haircut. Dykstra, 38, told Dreifurst
about her 15-year struggle to have a baby and Dreifurst,
36, told Dystra that she'd been thinking about being a
surrogate mother.
Before meeting
Dreifurst, Dykstra had all but given up on the idea of
motherhood. After years of endless fertility treatments
that cost more than $100,000, the Columbus, Neb.,
hairstylist and her husband Jeff figured there was no
hope left for them. So when she met Dreifurst, it seemed
her prayers were finally being answered.
Dreifurst said she
never had second thoughts about her impulsive offer to
act as surrogate to Dykstra.
"I don't know if I can
explain it. It's more of a feeling that I had,"
Dreifurst said on ABC News' Good Morning America.
"Something made me very calm and hopeful about it right
from the start."
After months of
preparation, doctors implanted Dykstra's strongest
fertilized eggs in Dreifurst. Then, to the women's
surprise, the doctor recommended they implant the
remaining eggs in Dykstra as well. Dykstra was hesitant,
because her attempts at in vitro fertilization — the
process of implanting fertilized eggs inside a woman —
had failed so many times before. But she finally agreed,
feeling it couldn't hurt.
Miraculously, both
women ended up becoming pregnant.
"I didn't really
believe it," Dykstra said. "I was in shock, I really
was."
Dykstra says even the
doctors and nurses were taken by surprise.
"The nurses and staff
were pretty emotional," Dykstra said. "They thought it
was pretty cool stuff."
On January 28, 2003,
Dykstra gave birth to 5 pound 13 ounce girl named Rylee.
Just eight days later, Dreifurst gave birth to Rylee's
twin sister, Ashlyn, who weighed in at 6 pounds, 15
ounces.
The twin girls share
the same genetic material but have different birth
mothers.
Both babies are being
raised by the Dykstras, but Dreifurst and her husband
Neal are the godparents of the two.
Dykstra says she knows
how lucky she is to have met Dreifurst, since finding a
surrogate mother can be so complicated. When
parents-to-be turn to surrogates outside of their circle
of family and friends, it can be costly and can pose
many legal issues.
Fertility experts
suggest when looking for a surrogate mother, it's best
to first get advice from a trusted fertility specialist
and a family attorney.
How will they explain
the unique circumstances to the two girls, when they are
old enough? Dykstra says she plans to tell them that
"God sent [the Dreifursts] into their lives" to help
them create the family they had always prayed for.
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