Surrogate Delivers Baby For Sister Diagnosed With Cervical Cancer

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – The sound of a baby crying is one every new mother knows, but Heidi Sanders' daughter Abigail didn't arrive like most babies.

Three years ago, Heidi was diagnosed with cervical cancer at 28 years old. Doctors told her she would need a hysterectomy.

"Most women want the option to have a child and to have a doctor tell you that's going to be taken away is devastating," said Dr. Nicole Noyes of the NYU Langone Medical Center.

Heidi decided to freeze her eggs after her husband Jeremy fertilized them.

As she recovered from cancer, her older sister Alaina Yoaku made Heidi's dream of motherhood come true.

"I thought, I have two kids of my own and I wasn't planning on having any others. My pregnancies were easy and it just seemed like the natural choice," said Alaina.

Doctors implanted only one embryo in Alaina and it was successful. Heidi was there to see her daughter being born.

"As soon as she was pulled out and I heard her cry, I burst into tears and I just felt that connection," said Heidi.

Her sister delivered the greatest gift. "She hates for me to say it, but she's my hero," said Heidi.

"This is what you do when you love somebody," said Alaina.

Abigail has brought the sisters even closer and has given Heidi her first Mother's Day.

Because she took hormones, Heidi was able to breast feed Abigail right after she was born.

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