CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Doctors say they’re seeing more couples in the Lowcountry struggle to grow their families.

For one family, the path to parenthood took an unconventional turn, with a baby sharing the family’s bloodline, but not the egg of the woman who carried him.

After nearly seven years of trying to conceive, Lauren McMahon and her husband welcomed their son, Nolan, July 11, 2025. The journey to his birth began after years of fertility treatments that failed to produce lasting results.

Lauren endured five intrauterine insemination, called IUI, attempts and four in vitro fertilization, best known as IVF, cycles, with her pregnancy chances dropping to just 2% despite doctors saying the current pregnancy rate is 70% per IVF cycle. When her doctor recommended using an egg donor,

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