Becoming a parent is one of life’s most important moments. People spend years aspiring towards it.
Unfortunately, becoming a parent is not always as easy as one would imagine.
According to Resolve, the National Infertility Association, 1 in 8 couples has difficulty getting pregnant or sustaining a pregnancy, and as a result, approximately 7.4 million women have sought out fertility services in their lifetimes.
Annie Johnston was one of these women, having spent over 5 years trying to start a family with her husband Joby. The couple received rounds of fertility services, including in-vitro and artificial inseminations, but still, the pair could not conceive.
She tells The Columbus Dispatch, “On paper, everything looked great. But we got the phone call with the bad news that I wasn’t pregnant after [the last] round, and that was definitely the hardest.
Annie’s only sibling, Chrissy Knot, was heartbroken for the couple, telling The Columbus Dispatch, “I just remember thinking to myself, if there was only anything I could do to try and help, I would do it.”
And so, putting herself and her body aside, Annie’s sister made the selfless choice to offer herself up as a surrogate.
To The Columbus Dispatch, Chrissy explains, “I didn’t know if I would even be able to be a surrogate or carry a baby, but I did some research and found that I would be able to do so and put it out there. Just as a consideration for the future.
A few years later, still not being able to conceive, Annie and Joby took Chrissy up on her offer, and a doctor implanted two embryos into each sister on February 19th, 2013. Miraculously, all four began to develop— technically making Annie and Joby the new, proud parents of quadruplets!
Joby tells The Columbus Dispatch about his conversation with the doctor, saying, “He told us we had a possibility of having 2 twin pregnancies, and I said, ‘You know, Doctor. We’re ready for a new problem. We haven’t been able to get pregnant for 5+ years. If the outcome of this is 2 twin pregnancies, giving us quadruplets, then bring it on. We’re ready for it!'”
On October 24th, 2013, Annie and Chrissy underwent scheduled C-sections, giving birth to babies Charles, Thomas, Grace, and Hadley.
The quadruplets will be turning 4 years old this year, but you can see a video of them celebrating their first birthday here:
Annie and Joby are thrilled to finally be parents.
Annie tells ABC News, “We’re very thankful for what [Chrissy] did for us. We’re very grateful and thankful that they’re all here.”
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