It was a happy moment years in the making when Sandi and Phillip Palmisanos welcomed their newborn twins last winter.
The couple had always wanted to have children, but in their years of trying to get pregnant, they had been through four failed in vitro fertilization attempts at Shady Grove Fertility Center near Washington D.C. That’s where they met Andrea and Mark Rivas in 2010, after first connecting on the center’s Facebook page.
Soon the foursome became good friends, and they were all thrilled when Andrea became pregnant and gave birth to twins two years ago. With the Palmisanos still unable to become pregnant, Andrea and Mark made a remarkable offer to their friends: Andrea would carry a baby for Sandi and Phillip. And despite one failed IVF cycle, she soon became pregnant with the Palmisanos’ twins.
In February, doctors delivered six-pound Grayson and seven-pound Emma Lee within one minute of each other. New mom Sandi stood next to her best friend Andrea during the delivery. Meanwhile, Phillip and Mark were hugging it out in another room and anxiously waiting to meet the newborns.
Over the weekend, Sandi said on The Today Show that Andrea has been a “great teacher” on how to raise twins. Andrea added that the couples have “four miracles” between them, call their twins “cousins,” and remain the closest of friends, seeing each other several times every week.
