Savages always wanted a big family and worked hard to make it a reality. Carolyn once jokingly remarked that her husband wanted nine children, but they only had four or five.
The Ohio couple took several steps to increase their family, including freezing their embryos at an IVF clinic. They did not realize their decision would cause severe and lifelong suffering.
When Sean and Carolyn married in 2009, they already had three children: teenage sons Drew and Ryan, and Mary Kate, born ten years after her brothers through IVF.
When she was a mother of three, she decided it was time to try again with IVF. They had already frozen their embryos, so all they had to do was undergo implantation and wait for the results.
They received the excellent news they had been waiting for ten days after the embryo was implanted. The doting mother had a fourth child, but the story took a sharp turn after that.
Sean was contacted by the couple’s doctor, who informed him that Carolyn had been implanted with the wrong embryo. The news ripped through the Savages’ home as they realized their long-awaited wish had been denied. Carol explained:
“No one should go through what we did.”
The embryo’s parents were Shannon Morell and Paul Morell, both from Michigan. According to the tale, the two couples stored their embryos in the same facility, and Shannon’s maiden name was Savage, which led to the discrepancy.
Carolyn and her husband didn’t know what to do. Carolyn had the option of terminating the embryo, but she chose not to do so. Since she knew she would give the child to the Morells when she gave birth, she decided to keep the pregnancy.
Carolyn said she knew the Morells would be frantic to know “their child was safe” if she went through with it, risking her life for another’s child.
Carolyn said she couldn’t live with herself if she and Sean had aborted the baby. The Savages’ most heartbreaking moment was the day of delivery.
After carrying the pregnancy to term, Carolyn gave birth to a baby boy named Logan, but she was not allowed to spend time with him. She felt a connection with Logan because she had given birth to him.
While she didn’t want him to leave, she knew it would be wrong. Despite her inability to handle it, Carolyn maintained her good faith. She revealed the date of the baby’s birth:
“I kissed his cheek. I was holding him. I cried. But I was also aware that we were running out of time. Shannon and Paul were in another room, waiting.”
Sean was also apprehensive about handing the baby over to his parents. As he recalled the traumatic event, his voice became thick with emotion, and tears streamed down his face.
Logan’s birth-related problems were far from over. Even as she delivered him safely through a C-section, Carolyn began hemorrhaging. Thankfully, medics were able to stabilize the situation.
Carolyn was given Logan a day after he was born so that she could spend some time with him. Bringing him close to her, she recalled how he cuddled against her flesh.
After that, Carolyn had no further physical contact with the baby. They also talked about Logan’s first birthday and how disappointed they were that they were not invited. However, they acknowledged that they had no control over the situation.
By the time Morell’s child was born, Carolyn’s doctor told her that the chances of her getting pregnant again were slim to none. Because of this, she and her partner decided not to try to conceive naturally.
After that, the couple decided to become surrogates. In 2011, Sean and Carolyn made headlines again when they announced the birth of twin girls through surrogacy.
Logan turned two months before the couple became parents. In a public statement, Sean and his longtime wife announced:
We have been humbled tremendously by every well wish and blessing we have received from real friends like you. You consoled us during our time of shock and sadness. As we started to lose hope about growing our family, you squeezed our hands in encouragement and reminded us not to lose faith.”
Logan’s birth was described as a gift by his then-new mother. She continued by saying that she and her husband were fortunate enough to discover someone who was able to assist them in delivering healthy twins.
When Carolyn gave birth to her twins, she was in her early forties; four years later, she was well into her forties. In the events that followed, however, her age proved to be a falsehood.
After trying to conceive naturally, going through IVF, and then giving birth to another woman’s child, Carolyn had come full circle. One day in 2014, however, her body felt different.
Carolyn took a pregnancy test, and instead of the normal one-line indicating “not pregnant,” the result was odd. She saw two lines instead of one, indicating that she would become a mother again.
She and her husband wrote a book called “Inconceivable” about their parenting struggle, but their story finally took a good turn. Afterward, Carolyn was speechless and took several minutes to process what had happened.
She marveled at the miracle that happened in her life in an open letter published on Today. The mother of six was surprised to find herself pregnant at 45 after years of being unable to conceive.
Although Carolyn admitted she and her husband had unprotected intercourse from the beginning of their marriage, becoming pregnant was a different story.
As she wrote:
“That’s not how I got pregnant. I needed medicines, ultrasounds, needles, blood tests, petri dishes, doctors, surgery, and truckloads of cash to conceive.”
During her research on the chances of the pregnancy surviving the first trimester, Carolyn learned that they were extremely low. Because they believed the fetus had no chance of survival, she and her husband did not dwell on it.
The first trimester of Carolyn’s pregnancy passed quickly, with her fetus gaining strength. At 25 weeks, she had a cell-free DNA analysis that revealed she was expecting a son.
Carolyn and Sean Savages’ story is one of faith and endurance, but they never lost sight of God’s will. They showed that God understands what everyone deserves at the right time, including miracles.
Source: dailyadvent.com
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