When LaDonna Woodmansee discovered she was unable to have children with her new husband, her heart broke - not just for herself, but for the thousands of other couples unable conceive.
The painful experience made Woodmansee, who had three children from a previous relationship, realize how lucky she was to already have them and decided to help others who were not as fortunate.
She has now given birth to four babies - including a set of twins - for three other couples and has spoken out about her heroic decision to carry strangers' children.
In a bizarre twist, Woodmansee, from Moore, Oklahoma, even carried a child for her OB-GYN after she also struggled to conceive.
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Heroic: LaDonna Woodmansee has been a surrogate for three couples, giving birth to four children
The mother first thought of carrying children for others when she learned she was unable to get pregnant by her husband David, who had undergone a vasectomy after having two children.
He underwent a vasectomy reversal but it was unsuccessful.
'I was just like, wow, I can't imagine going through this and not already having a child,' she told The Oklahoman, adding that she had loved being pregnant.
In 2006, she was paired with a family and gave birth to her first surrogate child. In 2009, she gave birth to a set of twins for another couple.
Gift of life: LaDonna is pictured with Addie Miller, who she carried. She has stayed in touch with all the families
Family: Two-year-old Addie is pictured with her parents, Andrea and David Miller, who had tried to get pregnant for five years unsuccessfully. Andrea Miller is actually LaDonna's OB-GYN
Loved: The Millers, pictured, called LaDonna a star and said they would consider having another child
Then she learned that her OB-GYN, Andrea Miller, was also struggling to conceive.
Miller and her husband Steve tried to get pregnant for five years - undergoing four cycles of in vitro fertilization, four intrauterine insemination procedures and suffering a miscarriage.
'I am just babysitting for nine months'
LaDonna Woodmansee
They eventually learned that they were having trouble conceiving as Andrea's uterus was not allowing the embryos to attach - and decided to turn to surrogacy.
Woodmansee underwent the treatments in Texas and on August 2011, she gave birth to baby Addie and passed the little bundle straight to her parents.
'I am baby-sitting for nine months,' Woodmansee said of the moment she handed the baby over. 'The child or children aren't mine and I will be giving them back.
'Everybody asks "How do you give them up?" I'm not giving them up, I'm giving them back.'
Family: LaDonna, who has three children of her own, also gave birth to twins - a boy and a girl - in 2009
In touch: She still sees the children she has carried but is under no illusion about who their parents are
Mr Miller called her a 'real star' for giving them baby Addie, who is now two years old.
In Oklahoma, surrogates cannot accept money for carrying another person's child and can only accept travel and healthcare expenses. Woodmansee said she was never in it for the money.
'I think a lot of people think a surrogate must be in a financial bind and that's why she's going to do this to her body and go through nine months of hell. And that's not the case at all,' she said.
She added that it has never been complicated after giving birth to another couple's child and she is under no illusion about who the parents are.
Devoted: LaDonna has three children and two stepchildren. She decided to become a surrogate after she was unable to get pregnant with her new husband and did not want others to never have children
She maintains contact with the families. The parents regularly update her with photographs and she attends the children's birthday parties.
She said that she might consider one more surrogacy, and that if the Millers want a brother or sister for Addie - which they have said they do - she would hope to carry the child.
'Besides having my own kids, surrogacy is the best thing I've ever done,' she said.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2416058/Meet-heroic-Oklahoma-mom-carried-couples-children-struggled-conceive.html#ixzz2eQPEkd9t
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