Talk about a family affair.
Ellie Freeman played surrogate to her gay twin brother, while his husband supplied the sperm and a second sister the egg. The result is a happy baby girl named Gali, who has genetic ties to all four adults.
“It was a beautiful birth,” Ellie, who already has three children, told ABCNews in Australia. “To have my husband by my side was the most important thing for me.”
Elliot Freeman, left, Ellie Freeman, Adam Braitberg, Omer Kuchman, right, and Gali pose on the day of her birth. Courtesy of Melbourne IVFTwins Adam Braitberg and Ellie Freeman had always been close.
“We had a beautiful upbringing in our suburban Melbourne with our parents and two sisters,” Ellie said.
So when Adam and his Israeli husband, Omer Kuchman, decided they wanted a child, his sisters stepped up to help.
“Our elder sister, Jess, offered to be a surrogate mom first and said she’s also be happy to be an egg donor,” said Ellie. “But under Australian law, you can’t be both, so it worked out that my sister was happy to be the egg donor and I was happy to be a surrogate.”
Before the surrogacy could begin though, they had to undergo routine blood tests — that produced a bombshell diagnosis.
Ellie’s husband, gastroenterologist Elliot Freeman, noticed her iron levels were unusually low and urged her to undergo a colonoscopy.
A screen shot from a video shows Adam Braitberg with his daughter, Gali. Braitberg’s twin sister, Ellie Freeman, served as the surrogate. Instagram / The.AustralianThe doctors found 21 polyps that had to be removed.
Because the condition could run in families, Ellie’s siblings were told to get checked too.
Adam underwent his procedure — and received devastating news. Doctors discovered a 10-centimeter mass.
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“Sh-t, he’s got cancer,” Ellie recalled thinking when the result arrived — just one day before she was due to undergo her first embryo implantation.
The op was put on hold.
“We found a doctor in Jerusalem who managed to see me and a month later, I had a surgery,” said Adam of his colon cancer. “Then tests, follow-ups, and I’m clear, I’m in remission. A month later, Ellie fell pregnant with our baby.”
Ellie explained to her three kids, “Next time Mummy is pregnant, I’m helping Adam and Omer create a family, so it’s not going to be our baby, it’ll be your little cousin”.
And nine months later, baby Gali arrived, and went straight into the arms of Adam and Omer, who cut the umbilical cord.
“She’s a beautiful symbol of what family is and what family could be,” said Adam. “For Gali, she’s going to know, it’s not something to hide from her. [We’ll tell her] “This is how you were created; you have two incredible aunties that wanted you to exist so much they helped us create you.”

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