The mother who had another woman’s baby by mistake

Author:  Jenny Johnston
Source: Daily Mail

Carolyn was ecstatic when she became pregnant by IVF. But a bizarre mix-up left her facing a cruel dilemma

Just before the nurses took her newborn baby from her for the final time, they asked Carolyn Savage if she would like them to make up a ‘bereavement box’ for her to take home.

She said she would — well aware that, in time, mementos of the all-too-short moments she had spent with baby Logan would help her come to terms with her loss.

Carolyn recalls watching a nurse hold one little foot while a clay imprint was made; then smiling, somehow, for photographs, as Logan lay on her chest. In all, she spent 45 minutes with her ‘feisty little man’.

Seventeen months on, Carolyn talks of the ‘bereavement process’, concluding that she and husband Sean ‘have done anger and denial and depression. I think we are kind of in acceptance now, but it’s not an altogether straight line’.

Anyone who has lost a child might feel they recognise the emotions the Savages are charting today. But they cannot possibly. For the tragedy is not that baby Logan is dead. He is just someone else’s son.

Logan was the result of an unthinkable IVF mix-up. Although Carolyn carried him for nine months, genetically he belonged to another couple….. Continue reading

Learn more about Carolyn & Sean’s  inconceivable choice in their recently published book Inconceivable

Why do other women resent me for having a fourth child?

When Lorraine told friends she was pregnant at 42, she was horrified by the sniping and jealousy it provoked. Why should only women like Posh Spice, Heidi Klum, Jules Oliver and Tana Ramsay, who have the money and lifestyle, be able to have larger families?

When I was younger, I never wanted ­children. Never fantasised about what my future family may look like as a teenager, or day-dreamed of baby names in quieter moments at work.

It’s not that I didn’t like children, but I could see how much they needed and the younger me wanted other things so much more.

Even when my little sister had a child at 27 the thought of ever having one of my own didn’t cross my mind; motherhood wasn’t the logical conclusion to my life.

Until I fell in love at 29. Then my world changed. Instead of seeing everything through a sort of selfish soft-focus I suddenly knew with complete clarity that I wanted a family.

The shift in my priorities was enormous. It was emotional and physical.

I was Editor of Cosmopolitan at the time — the job I had waited my whole career as a journalist for — but running alongside my ambition was my new and overwhelming need to start a family.

Author:  Lorraine Candy
Read the full story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1353032/Why-women-resent-having-fourth-child.html#ixzz1DRdpFSVA

Goodbye Baby

Goodbye Baby: Cameron’s Story’, a gentle and uplifting storybook which has been beautifully illustrated by Lindsay MacLeod.

The book provides comfort, understanding and reassurance for young children who have been affected by miscarriage in the family. Based on conversations between Gilliand and her son, Cameron, who was the inspiration for the story, ‘Goodbye Baby’ offers a platform for discussion with children.

‘Goodbye Baby’ is available to buy from Saint Andrew Press http://www.standrewpress.com/

‘Goodbye Baby’ has been endorsed by The Miscarriage Association:
“Beautifully written and illustrated, this wonderful book is a must for children and parents who need to talk about miscarriage but just can’t find the words.

If you or someone you know has been affected by miscarriage, please visit the Miscarriage Association for more information and support. Their website is http://www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk/