A Wonderful Moment: Mom Watching Her Baby Being Born via Surrogate

Childbirth photos are always gorgeous and empowering, but a recent set shows a beautiful labor and delivery scene we rarely get to see: a joyful mother welcoming her son into the world via a surrogate mother.

Texas birth photographer Leilani Rogers shared a stunning photo series on Facebook that shows mom Kim Overton watching in tears as her son, Oliver, is born. Overton’s son was carried by her cousin’s daughter, Cydnee, who volunteered to act as a surrogate after hearing about Kim’s struggles to conceive due to fibroid tumors.

Every birth is a miracle, but for people like Overton who’ve struggled for so long to have a baby, the happiness and relief of finally holding that child is unlike anything else. In this case, the emotions are written all over Kim’s face, and they’re a stunning reminder that there a million ways to become a parent, but no matter what, the love and wonder we feel upon meeting our kids for the first time is the same.

When Overton was 34, struggling with a broken engagement, she learned that she had fibroid tumors in her uterus that her physician said might affect her fertility. She wanted children, so her doctor recommended that she have the fibroids removed and try to get pregnant within the next five years. Overton gave herself a deadline: If she hadn't met anyone by the time she turned 38, she'd become what she calls a "solo starter" and seek motherhood on her own.

Overton was able to carry and deliver her first son, Dillon, when she was 39. However, things did not go smoothly when she tried for a second child. After years of fertility treatments and heartbreak, she chose to have her second child through surrogacy. Her cousin's daughter, Cydnee, offered to carry a baby for Overton, and they endured numerous failed embryo transfers and one miscarriage before the successful pregnancy that resulted in baby Oliver. And in the midst of everything else, last year Overton met a man—now her husband—who fully supports her choices.

First look at new babyKim and her husband are overcome with emotion when they glimpse Oliver emerging. (Leilani Rogers/Photos by Lei)