Mothers are one of life's greatest gifts. They're always there for us when we need them, they always seem to know just what to do, and many of us would likely be lost without them in our lives.
I can't even begin to express how amazing it has been to be able to raise my little girl with both my mother and my mother-in-law in her life. They are, without a doubt, a truly unique gift.
Some mothers, however, are able to do the unbelievable for their children when it's called for. I think, given the chance, most mothers would do just about anything for their kids – no matter how old – and that's exactly what Emily Jordan's mother was able to do in 2012.
When young Emily Jordan found out that she had cervical cancer, she also discovered the terrible truth that she may never be able to have children with her husband.
"Very quickly, after going to a bunch of doctors," she told Associated Press in the below video, "we realized that I was going to have to have a radical hysterectomy. And that sort of put an end to the dream that we had of being parents and having a baby."
But the Naperville, Illinois couple was in for an even greater surprise. Just as Jordan was about to go surgery to treat her cancer, doctors ran a required pregnancy test and discovered that Emily was pregnant.
"I can't describe what that was like," she said in the video, "after finding out that you have cancer and finding out that ever carrying a baby was gone. And then you find out that everything you've ever wanted was within your grasp."
Doctors were able to save Emily Jordan's ovaries, and that's when Emily's mother Cindy Reutzel came to the rescue. She told her daughter and son-in-law that she wanted to be their surrogate and carry their unborn child.
While they were incredibly moved by the gesture, Emily and her husband Mike didn't know if it was even possible for her 53-year-old mother to do such a thing.
"I want Emily to have that connection with another human being like I had with her," Reutzel told Associated Press. "I worried about the physical ramifications of being pregnant at this age because I don't know what to expect."
And so it came to be that Grandma would carry, and give birth to, her grandchild.
"The end result of this," she said, "is that two wonderful people are going to get to raise their baby. Their baby."
According to the Daily Mail, that notion became a reality on August 30, 2012 when Reutzel gave birth to her granddaughter, Elle Cynthia Jordan, just a few day's after her daughter Emily's 32nd birthday. Healthy and happy, little Elle has been thriving under Emily and Mike's care.
Emily Jordan could not possibly be more thankful for the amazing gift that her mother has given her and her husband.
"This is a continuation of everything that she has done her entire life for me," Jordan told Associated Press, "which is to make sure that I have the best life possible. This just reaffirms everything that I know about her and love about her and the relationship that we have."
Please SHARE this heartwarming story with all your friends and family! What an amazing example of one mother giving her daughter the ultimate gift!
