It’s the typical American story. Daughter is becoming a first-time mom, and her mother wants to be supportive and helpful to her child. But that’s where our story takes a 21st century twist. What happens when a wannabe mother has a health condition that makes it dangerous for her to get pregnant? Enter first-time grandma. Literally.

Forty-nine-year-old Linda Sirois of Maine can either claim the title of Mother (or Grandmother) of the Year after agreeing to become her daughter Angel Hebert’s surrogate. Last summer, when Hebert was told that her heart condition would make pregnancy too risky, grandma stepped up for a case of “extended babysitting.”

“It was pretty disappointing and we were pretty upset about it,” Hebert told The Portland Press Herald. “But we kind of had an idea that it was a possibility and, all along, my mother was saying, ‘I’m here and I can carry for you.’”

Making good on a promise she had made to her child years earlier, Linda allowed doctors to implant an egg containing genetic material from her daughter and son-in-law. The procedure was a success, and in August Sirois gave birth to a healthy 7-pound, 14-ounce grandson while her daughter looked on.

Sirois, a mother of four grown children of her own, called it her easiest pregnancy yet, and claims to have endured no morning sickness or complications. “I didn’t have any young children around – my youngest are in college — so that made it easier,” she said. We wish both families well.

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