Woman who served as surrogate for gay brother reveals she loved the pregnancy so much she volunteered to do it AGAIN — as she gushes about her bond with ‘extra special nephew’

A woman who served as a surrogate for her gay brother has revealed she loved the pregnancy so much she volunteered to do it again – while speaking glowingly about her bond with her “extra special nephew.”

Sabreena Henderson, 30, who works as a property manager in California, is a mother of four children of her own.

But when brother Shane Petrie, 33, and his husband, Paul, 37, decided they were ready to become parents, she offered to be their surrogate.

She offered her egg, which was used along with Paul’s sperm to create a healthy baby boy.

Sabreena gave birth to baby Tristan last September and the family recently celebrated his first birthday.

Shane and Paul, along with the rest of the family, adore the toddler and Sabreena now sees the youngster as her ‘extra special nephew’ because of their unique bond.

“Tristan is perfect, healthy and very loved,” Sabreena said.

‘Shane and Paul are the best dads; they talk about him all the time and call Tristan their little monkey.

‘I have such a special bond with Tristan because I helped create it – there aren’t really words to describe it, but it’s an intense love.

“A lot of people try to tell me that because my egg was used, he’s my son so I should be his mother, but Tristan is their child. He was never mine.

“Everyone has a story about how they came to be; his is just extra special.

“I see him as my ‘extra special cousin’ and I call myself his ‘favorite aunt’ – I think I’ve earned that right.”

Sabreena and her four sisters all said they would become a surrogate for Shane when he came out as gay at age 16.

When he and his husband finally decided they wanted to become parents in 2020, Sabreena was the best candidate.

This is because her eldest sister had already had three caesarean sections, her middle sister had had difficult pregnancies and her two youngest sisters were still teenagers at the time.

Sabreena agreed to use Paul’s sperm and her egg so that both fathers would be related to the baby.

Between November 2020 and December 2021, there were five failed insemination attempts and one miscarriage before she finally became pregnant again in January 2022.

“When we found out I had had a miscarriage, we were heartbroken,” Sabreena said.

‘I bled so much and even had to have surgery because my body wouldn’t let go of the pregnancy naturally.

‘It was horrible. But it didn’t stop me from helping my brother and when the doctor cleared everything up, we tried again.

‘The day I found out I was pregnant again was amazing, even though we were all cautiously optimistic because of our previous experiences.

‘It was an exciting nine months, but luckily everything went well this time.’

On September 28, 2022, she gave birth to baby Tristan, much to the joy of the entire family.

Sabreena says she felt so “intense pride” about her surrogacy that she volunteered to do it again, while Shane and Paul want to give Tristan a sibling.

“A lot of people said they couldn’t emotionally do surrogacy – luckily that was never the case for me,” she said.

“I can channel all my love into being a good aunt, and I’m proud of myself for being a part of that. It gives me a glow.

“We’ve definitely talked about having another baby and they want another one.

“When they’re done, I’d like to do it again.”

“It was so crazy, a total whirlwind,” Shane added.

‘It feels like yesterday I could hold him in one arm and now he’s taking steps on his own! I couldn’t imagine my life without Tristan now.

‘My husband and I both came from close families with siblings and I wouldn’t want to deprive him of that bond, so we discussed having a second baby.

“We couldn’t have asked for or hoped for anything better with Sabreena.”