They say it takes a village to raise a baby. But sometimes, it takes a village to help create one too.
Kiwi woman Sophie Hunt wants to be a mum - but like so many people, her path to parenthood has proved to be a tricky one. She has now joined a growing number of women taking an unconventional path to make their baby dream a reality.
Hunt was diagnosed with stage 2B cervical cancer, putting their family plans on hold.
"We got engaged about six months before our wedding and we were well on the way to talk about kids, we decided we would wait until immediately after the wedding," Hunt told The Project.
"The doctor called me and said there are some highly abnormal cells and you should have a biopsy. When the results came back, it was stage 2B cervical cancer, which was a bit of a shock. The words hysterectomy and chemotherapy and radiotherapy were thrown around."
Hunt knew her cancer treatment would jeopardise her chances of getting pregnant, so she immediately underwent IVF.
The newlyweds successfully fertilised an egg, and have nicknamed their embryo 'em-baby'.
Just days after her IVF, Hunt began cancer treatment.
"We want to wait a year or two after treatment, and then if I'm cancer-free, we want to see if we can turn our em-baby into an actual baby.
"Because of the radiation, I'm fairly certain I won't be able to carry a pregnancy to term. My amazing sister has offered to be a surrogate for us, and we have said yes please - so if we get to that stage where we want to have a kid and we can, she would be an ideal choice."
Sophie and Warwick are now playing the waiting game.
One day, with the help of their village, they're hoping to make their baby dreams come true.
Newshub.
