Manitoulin Island family welcomes new baby in a unique and loving way

Sudbury -

With a little help from science and family, newborn Lakelin Dale Earl Wood arrived just in time for Christmas.

Lakelin’s birth story is unique. His parents, Deana and her husband Vance, of M’Chigeeng First Nation, turned to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to conceive their first and only child. That process started more than five years ago.

“He was the best gift of all and Deidre helped make that all possible,” said Deana Debassige-Wood. "Without her, I don’t know if he would be here."

Deidre is Deana's younger sister, who carried and gave birth to Lakelin.

“It’s a real joy to have the baby in your arms and you don’t need the TV or music or anything playing… you just hold him and it’s so much joy and happiness,” said Vance. “I’ve been waiting for so long to do that and it’s worth it.”

Because Deana wasn’t able to carry her own baby, Deidre offered to be their gestational carrier after watching her sister struggle.

“They were hoping they were going to get pregnant from their second round of IVF,” said Deidre.

“But it was unsuccessful. So after that for me, that’s when everything kind of switched and I started to really think about what can I do here? How can I help my sister get through this?"

So she consulted her medium, who told her: 'Your sister will not be able to carry children of her own, but if you help her accept that and help her open her eyes to another way of having children, she will be able to have children of her own.'

Lakelin was born Dec. 6, a few days ahead of his due date with a whole crew of family members awaiting his arrival.

The family said they are proud of Lakelin’s birth story and have been open about it from the beginning. Even Deidre's son, three-year-old Kade, knew from the start his mom was helping his baby cousin.

“It’s important to recognize and understand the process of IVF,” said Deana. “With IVF my sister is a gestational carrier. It’s our embryo… my egg and Vance’s sperm, so using science they put it together outside and then with the one embryo, Deidre is our gestational carrier. So she was the vessel to bring him into this world.”

She said "there’s not enough words" to express her gratitude to her sister, as well as the support from Vance’s parents, Kathy and Dale, and her parents, Debbie and Earl.

Deana Debassige-Wood and her husband Vance are seen with Deidre, Deana's sister, who carried and gave birth to her sister's son. (Supplied)

“Our extended family and friends, too," Deana said.

"It was never a secret, the process that we were going through, and there’s just so much love and excitement… everybody was waiting for him to come.”

Not only does he have parents who have been waiting years to meet him, but he has a very special aunt who will be there every step of the way.

“I’m going to be his auntie and I’m going to be a really close, involved and very loved auntie," said Deidre. "I just can’t wait to watch him grow up and watch our two sons grow up together."

All three family members said they hope their story helps other people struggling with IVF or looking at other options when it comes to having a baby. They also didn’t realize how big of an impact it would have outside their family.

“Starting this process, I was only thinking about my sister and her husband Vance being able to start a family,” said Deidre.

“I wasn’t thinking about any outside talk or how it would affect other people or what other people would think about it… so what’s really warmed my heart and opened my eyes is how amazing this process really was.”