Christmas is as good a time as any to remind ourselves how many incredible people there are in the world, so here is a story that features three of them.
In late 2010, thirty-year-old Iowa woman Laura Brammeier was working out at the gym when she passed out. Medical checks followed, and doctors discovered soon discovered that the young woman had multiple tumors on her brain. The diagnosis came just weeks after Laura had become engaged to her partner of three years, Nate Yoho.
The couple were certain that they wanted to start a family before it was too late, so Laura had her eggs frozen before undergoing chemotherapy. In May 2011, Laura had surgery to remove all visible tumours. In August of that year, Laura and Nate married.
Sadly, the tumours returned, and grew more aggressively. Her physical condition meant that carrying a child would be impossible. Then, Laura's best friend of 24 years Kara Stetson stepped in to offer one of the most amazing gifts we've ever heard of. The married mother of two offered to become a surrogate for her beloved pal.
On Saturday, July 27th of this year, Laura’s friends hosted a baby shower for her at the Yohos’ house, with Stetson five months into her pregnancy and carrying Laura and Nate's child. The following Tuesday, cancer finally won Laura's long-fought battle, and she died
This month, little Caralyn Yoho was welcomed to the world by an adoring father, five months after the mother who so desperately wanted her passed away.
Before Laura died, both she and Nate wrote letters and filmed videos to tell their daughter all about the mother she would never meet.
"It's such an amazing gift," Nate told
the Des Moines Register. “Part of it's having a little bit of my wife back, I can see her when my daughter smiles. It just makes me content with everything.”
