Penticton, B.C., parents Scott and Jessica Tregoning are taking in all the joys of having a newborn baby.
They welcomed baby Kaison to the world back in December through surrogacy, after many years of heartbreak.
“We have been waiting for this for a long time, so the sleepless nights I try to tell myself that I have been waiting for this and we were meant to be parents,” said Jessica.
Back in 2018, the newly-married couple was expecting their first child. But Jessica’s water broke at 27 weeks and she went into pre-term labour — too early for their firstborn son to survive.
“We took a year off — then we got pregnant again. Then later that year I had a uterine rupture which basically made our second son stillborn. He was due two weeks later,” said Jessica.
After losing their second child, Jessica learned that her body was not safe to carry another baby.
It was then that their close friend offered to carry a baby for them.
“My best friend, who is also Jessica, asked right away if we were going to need a surrogate and she did it and carried Kaison practically till full term,” said Jessica.
“She offered when we were in the hospital, like that night and we knew she was serious. We couldn’t have asked for a better person to do it,” said Scott.
They say it takes a village to raise a child, and the community stepped up to help fund surrogacy costs for the couple.
“Jess’ aunt and mom started a GoFundMe and within about two weeks they had about $30,000, which was quite overwhelming and really humbling,” said Scott.
“If it wasn’t for the community, we wouldn’t have our little guy. It would’ve taken us a long time to save that amount of money.”
Donations were made not only from the community of Penticton but nationwide. Scott’s family and friends from Australia contributed as well.
“I can’t say thank you enough to everyone, not just in Penticton, who donated because it couldn’t have happened without them,” said Jessica.
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The couple began their surrogacy journey in October and a successful first transfer was made in April of last year.
“I almost stood back and took on the dad’s role. Watching someone else carry my baby and waiting, it was weird for sure. I felt disconnected for a while but because we are so close with Jessica, it was the best-case scenario,” said Jessica.
Jessica says the delivery went smoothly, and after 12 hours of labour, Kaison was born healthy on Dec. 8.
“She took it like a champ and Jessica even got to help deliver the baby,” said Scott.
“The midwives in our community are amazing and Dr. Fridhandler who was the one who birthed him. Everyone at the hospital is amazing, I can’t thank them enough,” said Jessica.
A happy ending to a long journey for the Tregonings.
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