September 16 Weekly Review

Wednesday, September 16, 2020 Vol. 43, No. 38

– SINCE 1913! –

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Local surrogate mother fulfills Irish couple’s wish Child’s middle name ‘Holden’ Patricia Harcourt Editor

Meghan Schiewe fulfilled an Irish couple’s dream of having their very own baby by becoming a surrogate. In the process, she also realized a dream of her own. Megan gave birth to a baby boy in Viking on Sept. 4. Elliot Holden Tierney came into the world at 7:51 p.m. at the Viking Health Centre. New parents, Molly and Niall Tierney, named the child Elliott Holden Tierney, with the middle name a sign of their gratitude to Meghan and the village. It had been a long journey spanning three years before this treasured wish came true. It started with Meghan deciding she wanted to become a surrogate after having her and husband Travis’ own two children, daughter Sadie, now 7, and Daxton, 3. “I knew that infertility is heartbreaking, cruel, and unfair,” she said. “I had the power to change someone’s story.” She decided, “If I can, I will.” The decision was aided by the nagging thought that if she didn’t do this, she would live to regret it when she got older in life. But getting to that stage took a few years after she saw a Canadian Fertility Consulting (CFC) ad on Facebook. She learned that there were rules in Canada around becoming a surrogate, such as being under 35 to be eligible to sign up. “It’s very strictly regulated,” she said, and illegal to do for monetary gain. She was 32 when she had her son,

and made the decision to do the surrogacy. “I signed up as a surrogate in 2017.” “I decided to go with CFC,” she said, after being impressed by its CEO Leia Swanberg, herself a past surrogate with headquarters on Vancouver Island. “I really loved their story and how she wanted to help others.” Through the CFC, there was medical and psychological screening done for Meghan, and psychological and blood screening for Travis. Then the surrogate couple moved on to the contract phase where they had to agree to do the surrogacy for altruistic reasons, receive no financial compensation and give the baby only to the “intended parents.” Molly and Niall Tierney had been through a heartbreaking journey in their attempts to have a child on their own. But their heartbreak turned to joy after the birth of their son Sept. 4, and Molly Tierney wrote a touching Facebook comment. “After 20 IVFs, 10 incredibly difficult miscarriages, and a surrogacy journey that took five (embryo) transfers, we can hardly believe that this baby managed to make it earth side…but here he is…” Meghan’s attempts to get pregnant on the couple’s behalf took her to two different cities and five attempts at transplanting the Tierney’s embryo inside her body. At Toronto’s Create Fertility Clinic three embryo transfers failed. Then it was on to the San Diego Fertility Centre (SDFC) where two transfers were done. See SURROGATE P12

Dr. Potgieter (right) checks out the baby after its birth by surrogate Meghan Schiewe (not shown) while parents Molly and Niall Tierney look on with amazement.

Gathered together are, from left: Fertility clinic CEO Leia Swanberg along with Rachel West, new parents Niall and Molly Tierney and surrogate Meghan Schiewe.