Harrells Welcome Miracle Baby

There was not a dry eye in the house when Ashley Piper handed perfect baby boy, Toby, over to Jojo and Ross Harrell as family and friends looked on.

With the help of advancements in reproductive technologies, miracles happen to the tune of around 20,000 babies born via surrogacy per year in the U.S. This includes both gestational surrogacy, where the surrogate has no relationship to the child, and traditional surrogacy where the surrogate contributes her egg. The former is more common, and the route that Jojo Gold Harrell successfully took.

Jojo was diagnosed with severe Crohn’s Disease at age 17. A few years later, she spent several months in the hospital. After all potential medications were exhausted, her large intestine was removed leaving her with an ileostomy at age 32.  She technically can “carry” children, but her doctor and Ross felt that surrogacy was the better option. The toll pregnancy and labor could take on Jojo was a risk.

The Harrells went through two rounds of egg retrievals. For the first round, none of the eggs were viable. The second resulted in only one viable, but very strong embryo. Jojo recalled, “I was nervous that we only had one embryo. The odds aren’t that great; and even our fertility doctor suggested we do another round. Ross wanted to do the transfer first before I did another egg retrieval. It worked, it only takes one!”

The Harrells didn’t connect to the candidates the agency presented. Jojo knew Piper for 11 years where periodically she nannied for Jojo’s sister. Both Ross and Jojo agreed that Ashley would be ideal; so, they texted her from the car. She responded, “Of course! I was waiting for you to ask me!”

Jojo explained, “I can’t say enough good things about Ashley. She’s a super woman, incredibly talented, kind and strong. She is an amazing mother to her 2-year-old and a dedicated teacher.”

At the time, her son, James, was a student in Jojo’s Temple Sinai class. They had to wait until Ashley was one year post-partum to begin. Piper got pregnant on the first try. Ross said, “Toby is certainly a miracle baby. With only one viable embryo, succeeding on the first try is quite special!”

Jojo was very involved in the pregnancy. She went to almost every doctor’s appointment. She said, “It was special to see Ashley at work where I talked to the baby every day.”

The delivery advanced quick quickly. The morning Ashley had her ultrasound, Jojo didn’t go because she hadn’t been feeling well the days prior. It was the only ultrasound she missed. Ashley called, and exclaimed, “You’re having a baby today!”

Jojo was shocked! Piper’s blood pressure was very high; and so, they decided the baby needed to come out pronto. Jojo, recalled, “He was already measuring very big, so we weren’t concerned about that!”

Yes, they knew the gender.

Fast forward to the Harrells now getting their sleep and into a schedule. Ross said, “He really is the perfect baby! He is so easy-going, eats like a champ, started sleeping through the night at two weeks old! He was born weighing nine pounds, six ounces and at a month he wore three-month clothes.”

Understanding the legal aspects, the Harrells had to adopt their own child. In Georgia, even though Toby is 100 percent of both parents’ DNA, by law Ashley would be considered the mother since she carried him.

A baby shower with friends coming from several states was held at The Swan Coach House as a traditional Southern tea party. Beth Intro, known for her authentic and beautiful photography, captured all these events starting with the shower.

Jojo concluded, “People come into your life for certain reasons which may not be clear initially; but I believe that everything happens the way it is supposed to in the end … now as family, Ashley’s son calls me ‘Auntie’ as I’m his godmother. We celebrate holidays and birthdays together. Toby will always know his ‘Auntie Ash,’ and what a special gift she gave us.”