Grandmother gives birth to her own granddaughter!

Chennai: It may sound strange but it's true that a 61-year-old woman, late last year, gave birth to her own granddaughter whose biological mother and father are her daughter and son-in-law, doctors here said.

"A young lady and her mother came to our hospital enquiring about the possibility of having a surrogate mother," said doctors at the city based Akash Fertility Centre and Hospital here.

"Dr. Jeyarani Kamaraj explained the process and also said that even relatives including the old lady could be surrogate mother," T.Kamaraj, director at the hospital and the embryologist told media here on Friday.

He said the old lady delivered a girl baby weighing 2.7 kg and breast-fed it.

Karmaraj said it is for the first time that a surrogate delivery-mother was bearing the grandchild for her own daughter in Tamil Nadu.

The hospital made the announcement on Friday as it has decided to honour the mother-daughter on the occasion of the International Women's Day on March 8.

Kamaraj said 21-year-old Lakshmi (name changed) had her uterus removed due to complications after she delivered a stillborn child.

Lakshmi, the third daughter of her parents, was a dejected lot as she could not bear a child for the rest of her life.

On hearing about surrogacy they had approached Jeyarani Kamaraj who suggested that Lakshmi's mother Rajeswari (name changed) could also be the surrogate.

The one major complication was that Rajeswari had attained the menopause stage.

The mother's menstrual cycle was restored medically and the foetus was developed using intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).

According to Kamaraj, the egg belonged to Lakshmi and the sperm belonged to her husband.

The hospital has decided to honour the two women on the International Women's Day.

The hospital would also conduct a free medical camp to offer solutions to infertility women and to create an awareness among the people on the various treatments available to overcome this problem.

During the camp, a complete medical check up would be done for women free of cost, including for breast cancer, pelvic scan, papsmear test (for cervical cancer) and blood sugar levels, Kamaraj added.