Maine Woman Gives Birth to Own Grandson

Linda Sirois, Angel Hebert, and baby Madden
Linda Sirois, Angel Hebert, and baby Madden

What's the nicest thing mom has ever given you? Chances are it won't top Linda Sirois's gift to her daughter Angel Hebert: a healthy baby boy. The Portland Herald Press reports that the Maine grandmother, 49, acted as a surrogate for Hebert and her husband Brian and delivered their son Madden by C-Section on August 17.

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The arrangement sounds a little strange, but Hebert, 25, has a heart condition that made it too dangerous for her to get pregnant. Her cardiologist said it would be risky for both her and her baby. "It was pretty disappointing," she says. She and her husband are high school sweethearts who started dating eleven years ago.

Previously mom had told Hebert she was willing to carry a baby for her. Now it was time to see if she really meant it. "I called her last summer," Hebert told the Herald Press. "And I'm like, 'So, you know that offer...Is that offer still on the table?'"

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Sirois reached out to fertility clinics around New England. Many rejected her because of her age, but the Reproductive Science Center in Lexington, Massachusetts agreed to impregnate her by in-vitro fertilization (IVF) using Hebert's egg fertilized with Brian's sperm. She had to undergo a number of tests and the process was complicated, but on December 13, Sirois learned she was pregnant. The mom of four says it was her easiest pregnancy. "I felt good and had no complications."

"She is amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better mother. It's such a great and selfless gift she has given us," Hebert told the newsletter of the Aroostock Medical Center where Madden was born. "She brought her grandson into the world and we now have our beautiful baby boy. We are all super excited."

Sirois says it was the natural thing for any mother to do for her daughter. "I was just 'babysitting' for a short time… I was fortunate and blessed to be a part of this experience and be able to help bring him into the world." She will have plenty more babysitting ahead: in June, her oldest daughter, Kristin Duval, 26, gave birth to Sirois's first grandson, Everett. Babies and moms are all doing fine.

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