A couple who suffered five heartbreaking miscarriages finally have the family they dreamed of – after his SISTER gave birth to their son.
Pritesh and Mansi Gandhi started trying for a baby ten years ago but repeatedly lost their child due to a medical condition.
Mansi did manage to give birth in 2007 but the boy, Khushi, was so premature he died after a six-month fight for life.
The devastated pair had given up hope of ever having a family when Pritesh’s sister Hiral Shah, 32, offered to carry their baby – despite having a six-month-old son of her own.
She got pregnant through IVF on the first attempt – using Mansi’s egg and her brother’s sperm – and adorable baby Krish was born three weeks ago.
Pritesh and Mansi, from Feltham, London, now have the family they always dreamed of and said they will be “forever in debt” to his generous sister.
Operations manager Pritesh wants to encourage more infertile couples to use surrogacy in the UK rather than abroad, which can result in immigration and custody battles.
Thankful Pritesh said: “My sister and I were always close but this has made all the difference.
“She is an extra special aunty and for the rest of my life I will be in debt to my sister.
“She had a baby of her own at the time but she still wanted to help me and my family.
“What we went through was so traumatic, but now we finally have a happy family.”
Accounts assistant Hiral added: “I witnessed all the losses which my brother and his wife suffered over the years.
“The handing over of baby Krish was obviously quite emotional moment for all of us but seeing my brother and his wife very happy made that process a bit easier too.
“I feel ever so happy when I see my brother playing with his little one and it makes me ever so happy to know that I am the reason for his happiness.”
Pritesh and Mansi met through family friends in 2001 and the smitten pair got married a year later, and began trying for a baby after three years.
In 2007 the supermarket worker fell pregnant for the first time but went into early labour at just 24 weeks.
Little Khushi was born with brain haemorrhages due to his prematurity and died aged six months in May 2007 and after spending most of his short life in hospital.
Doctors investigated and Mansi was diagnosed with cervical insufficiency – premature dilation of the cervix due to the weight of a growing baby.
The couple continued to attempt to have a baby, but sadly suffered a miscarriage at 18 weeks in 2008, 14 weeks in 2009, 18 weeks in 2010.
Doctors put stitches in Mansi’s cervix in a bid to keep it closed, but tragically they also lost a further two babies in the early weeks of pregnancy in 2012 and 2013.
Mansi said: “I gave up on any hopes of having a child of my own after losing six babies.
“It’s heartbreaking to lose even one baby whereas in my case I lost six babies and that made me feel awful about myself.
“I started hating myself and always thought why can’t I have a baby when everyone around me is blessed with one.”
Pritesh added: “It was so hard and very traumatic.
“I couldn’t put Mansi through any more pain and I was worried that if we tried for any longer Mansi would get depressed.
“I didn’t want anything to happen to her so we gave up.
“We thought ‘it’s ok, we are not meant to have children, let us just assume that God hasn’t written a child into our fate.”
But a family friend mentioned surrogacy and when Pritesh’s sister heard he was researching online, she immediately offered to help in January 2014.
They called a family meeting and promised to do all they could to support Hiral, who already had a son Ronav, now one, with husband Amish, 33, an engineer.
Hiral underwent IVF at CRM CARE Fertility in London, costing £10,000, and after her brother and sister-in-law produced two embryos, one was implanted last summer and she fell pregnant.
Little Krish was born at West Middlesex University Hospital on March 27 – with Pritesh and Mansi waiting outside the room during the quick 20 minute labour.
“Mansi was scared and we were so excited, first of all to find out the sex of the baby, and most importantly to hold him for the first time,” said Pritesh.
“I have to be honest I cried. Everyone was so happy.
“We held him first. Obviously my sister found it a little bit difficult, which we were expecting, but she knew she was making us so happy and that made her happy.”
Overjoyed Mansi said she will let Krish know about his aunt’s gift as soon as he is old enough and added: “I am sure that Krish will always have a special place for Hiral in his heart.
“I am so overjoyed and I can’t believe that I am holding a baby of my own.
“It’s a miracle baby and Hiral is a God-send for us.
“I can’t express in words how grateful I am to Hiral and her family and I would like to thank Hira’s family to stand by Hiral’s decision.
“It’s because of such kind-hearted people like Hiral the world is a beautiful place to live.”
Hiral added: “My brother has always gone an extra mile whenever I have needed his help and I thought to myself that now it was my turn to try and help him by giving him this amazing gift of his life.
“I was aware that it was a quite a big commitment but my keen desire to help my brother made me overcome that issue.
“Baby Krish means the world to my brother.”
