A devastated mum has told how nurses asked her if she wanted to make up a memory box for the little baby boy she had carried for nine months, before whisking him away from the delivery room after just 45 minutes together.
Carolyn, 40, and Sean Savage, from Ohio, USA, had three children already; two conceived naturally, and one via IVF. They decided to turn to IVF again to conceive what would be their final, much wanted baby.
But the child Carolyn ended up carrying was never to be theirs: a tragic mix-up in a fertility clinic had left the horrified expectant mum pregnant with someone else's baby. Her devout Christian views had meant she could not terminate the pregnancy, and after delivering little Logan, she handed him over to his biological parents, Shannon and Paul Morell.
Seventeen months later, Carolyn has talked of the 'bereavement process' she and her husband Sean have been through, saying that they are now in the 'acceptance' stage.
She said, we've 'done anger and denial and depression. I think we are kind of in acceptance now, but it's not an altogether straight line'.
Speaking of Logan's birth, Carolyn said: 'I kissed him. I held him. I cried. But I also knew that our time was limited. Shannon and Paul were waiting in another room.'
Carolyn and Sean then left presents for Logan and signed papers to say they would never seek to be part of his life.
The families have since exchanged emails and photos, but the Savages admit it is not as many as they would like, despite admitting they have no rights to news or access:
'But we accept that we have no rights,' Carolyn says sadly. 'Who are we to demand anything? We cannot. Every photo we receive is a gift, and we know that. We simply couldn't pretend it had never happened. Logan's birth changed all our lives. We can't forget that, or him. He is their son, but he will always be my baby.'
What do you think about this story?
Could you have carried a baby for 9 months then handed him over, even if you were not his biological mum?
Do you think this kind of mix-up should be expected when people turn to IVF?
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