Surrogate baby born 4 months after mum dies of brain cancer

It is a bittersweet tale.

But it's one that should redeem your faith in the human spirit.

It involves a mother who died of brain cancer in July, just four months before her baby was born through a surrogate.

The surrogate was her best friend.

Ms Kara Stetson's actions meant that the family of Mrs Laura Yoho, the dead mother, will have something positive to hold on to as they remember her, Mail Online reported.

Baby Caralyn was born late last month.

"It's such an amazing gift," Mr Nate Yoho, Caralyn's father, told the Des Moines Register in Iowa. "Part of it's having a little bit of my wife back, I can see her when my daughter smiles. It just makes me content with everything."

Mrs Yoho was working as a gym instructor when she was told she had brain cancer. But she was still determined to have a family together.

The couple had just got engaged at the end of 2010.

She had her eggs frozen before starting treatment and, when the couple decided they were ready for a baby, Ms Stetson offered to act as a surrogate.

Said Ms Stetson: "I just felt so happy that there was something I could do for their family, and selfishly for me, to keep a part of Laura alive on this Earth."

She said both she and Mrs Yoho were very close and the decision to act as a surrogate came easily to her.

Recalling their friendship, Ms Stetson said: "It's hard to explain what having a best friend like Laura for 24 years meant to me. We were different enough and alike enough to get along perfectly. We never argued. We never got sick of one another. We were like sisters, soulmates and best friends all rolled into one."

Originally, the doctors thought that Mrs Yoho had suffered a stroke. But the symptoms persisted and the couple sought a second opinion. The tumour diagnosis was confirmed.

Despite her illness, she continued with her active life and never stopped to feel sorry for herself.

After Caralyn was born, Mr Yoho and the baby stayed with Ms Stetson's family for a few days as he settled into his role as a dad.

"Caralyn's birth was certainly up and down," he told the Des Moines Register. "I wish my wife was here but the joy of having (Caralyn) here, I know she wouldn't want me to be sad."

He still grieves for his wife, but he can now look forward to the future - thanks to the baby.

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