PROVO, Utah, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- A Utah woman says she's more than happy to be a surrogate mother for her daughter and give birth to her soon-to-be granddaughter.
Julia Navarro, 58, a Provo resident originally from Peru, is due to give birth in early February to a girl that will become her grandchild, the Salt Lake City Tribune reported.
Navarro's 32-year-old daughter, Lorena McKinnon, had trouble conceiving naturally; she suffered about a dozen miscarriages and a failed in-vitro procedure within the past three years.
While the McKinnon and her husband, Utah-native Micah McKinnon, were searching for a surrogacy candidate, Navarro made it known that she would be willing to carry her first grandchild.
"As a family, we have to help each other," Navarro, a nurse's aide at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, said.
Navarro said she thanks God for her opportunity to help her daughter and hopes that she is able to help other families in the future.
"I was praying, 'If this baby works, I am going to help others,'" Navarro said. "I would like to donate some of the money from my baby shower [Jan. 12] to children in Peru who don't have parents or moms or dads who need help."
The father-to-be said he is happy with the way things worked out.
"It's worked out better than I ever expected," said Micah McKinnon, a technician at Intel Micron Flash Technologies. "I didn't want to get my hopes up, but we haven't had any complications. I'm pretty happy about it."
The family said the experience has brought them closer together.
"There is not one person we have told about this that hasn't gotten teary-eyed or fully shed a few tears. They can't understand how brave and selfless love can be," Julissa Gonzales, McKinnon's 27-year-old sister, said in an email. "I hope one day I can have a love so strong like the one my mom has for Lorena and me. The day I get it, I'm sure will be the day I become a mother because now I'm certain that there is no bigger love than a mother's love."
