Health · Healthcare & Policy · 4 hrs ago
Nurse becomes surrogate for colleague after unexpected offer
Nurse Amanda Lewis offered to carry a baby for her colleague Bec Vallee, who had been warned that pregnancy could be dangerous because of her kidney condition.
Vallee, who has had two kidney transplants, and her husband Ryan had their first daughter, Bo, through surrogacy with Vallee’s sister in 2019.
Lewis gave birth to their second daughter, Eva, at Ipswich Hospital near Brisbane on August 3, after a seven-hour labour.
She has two teenage daughters of her own and has occasionally breastfed Eva and expressed milk for her since the birth.
Surrogacy is rare in Australia and New Zealand: 103 babies were born to surrogates in 2024, out of about 360,000 births each year across the two countries.
Australian surrogacy must be altruistic, meaning the surrogate does not carry the baby as a paid service.
Eva’s birth gave the Vallee family a second child, and Lewis’s role has continued beyond giving birth.
Nurse Amanda Lewis gave birth to a surrogate baby girl, Evangeline, for her colleague Bec Vallee.
Lewis has continued to occasionally breastfeed Evangeline and express milk for her.
Vallee has a kidney disorder and was warned that pregnancy could pose high risks to her health.
Lewis offered to become a surrogate about three years ago, unexpectedly giving the Vallee family a chance to have another child.
Surrogacy is rare in Australia and New Zealand, with 103 babies born to surrogates in 2024.
- Who
- Nurse Amanda Lewis carried and gave birth to a baby for her colleague Bec Vallee and Vallee’s husband, Ryan.
- What
- Lewis became a surrogate for the couple’s daughter, Evangeline, and has continued to provide breast milk.
- When
- Evangeline was born on August 3. Lewis made her offer about three years ago.
- Where
- Evangeline was delivered at Ipswich Hospital, west of Brisbane, Australia.
- Why
- Vallee’s kidney condition meant doctors warned her of high pregnancy risks. Lewis offered to help the couple have another child.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Bec Vallee’s sister Sarah gave birth to the couple’s first daughter, Ambrosia, through surrogacy.
Amanda Lewis phoned Vallee to start a conversation about becoming a surrogate.
Lewis gave birth to Evangeline after a seven-hour labour at Ipswich Hospital.
ANZARD data recorded 103 babies born to surrogates in Australia and New Zealand.
- Surrogate
- Amanda Lewis, a nurse and colleague of Bec Vallee
- Baby
- Evangeline, known as Eva; 3 kilograms at birth
- Birth
- August 3, at Ipswich Hospital, after a seven-hour labour
- Older daughter
- Ambrosia, born through surrogacy in 2019
- Surrogate births
- 103 in Australia and New Zealand in 2024
What people are saying
I just never thought we would find someone willing to go again for us.
It was quite an emotional thought that I'd had someone step forward and offer me this completely, really completely, out of the blue.
I feel the two greatest sacrifices that another person can make for a friend or a relative or a person is to give an organ or to sacrifice their body to have a baby for someone else to grow their family.