Photo: Fiona Davey and her sister Penny Hanson with Will and Harper.
Today, I have a happy and healthy sister and she and her husband have two healthy children. I'm overjoyed to be able to give help create a family, while keeping my sister healthy.
An Epworth Freemasons midwife has given her sister the gift of life twice, by being a surrogate.
In 2015, midwife Fiona Davey's sister, Penny Hansen, was diagnosed with a hormone-induced breast cancer. The shock diagnosis came five months after Penny married her husband Leigh. At the time of the diagnosis, Penny didn't realise she was five weeks pregnant and tragically she suffered the loss of her unborn child.
As Penny underwent cancer treatment at Epworth Richmond, it became clear that Penny risked cancer returning if she was to fall pregnant again. Making the ultimate offer, her midwife sister Fiona became a surrogate, carrying a child for Penny and Leigh.
Fiona and her husband Adam had already had three children, Isabella, Amelia and Isaac, who were all delivered at Epworth Freemasons by obstetrician, Dr Samantha Hargreaves.
Naturally, Dr Hargreaves was the chosen as obstetrician for the surrogate pregnancies.
Midwives perform a vital role in providing exceptional care to every maternity patient at Epworth Freemasons, throughout the stages of pregnancy and childbirth. When Fiona made the significant decision to carry her sister's child, she turned to her friend and colleague, Helen Roberts, a midwife at Epworth Freemasons, for assistance and support, without any hesitation.
"To have Helen as my midwife made the process so much better," Fiona said.
"Despite the challenges and fears associated with the pregnancy, Helen was amazing."
Baby William was born safely in December 2019.
Yet, the bond between the sisters and their shared commitment to family didn't end there. A conversation between Fiona and Penny in Fiona's living room, sparked the decision for a second surrogacy journey.
"I had spoken to my husband and our three children to see if they were happy if we went again to give Will a sibling," Fiona said.
"I then made the offer to Penny and she was absolutely thrilled."
Despite knowing the toll it took on Fiona, Penny was overwhelmed by her sister's willingness to undergo the journey once more, granting Baby William a sibling.
"I will always remember that conversation," Penny said.
"We were happy to have Will but a second child gives my son a sibling, completing my family."
Harper was born in April 2023.
Fiona is pleased she was able to help her sister fulfil a dream of having a family.
"Today, I have a happy and healthy sister and she and her husband have two healthy children. I'm overjoyed to be able to give help create a family, while keeping my sister healthy."
