Couple celebrates arrival of twins after friend offers to be surrogate

The cousins, not pictured, were born just house apart one room away from each other. (iStock)

Four parents in New York are celebrating the February arrival of twins after one friend offered to be a surrogate for a newlywed who was told getting pregnant could prove fatal. Lianna Fives, a mother of five, surprised Nicole and Kevin Barattini shortly after they had received a devastating diagnosis.

“I was able to conceive, but I wouldn’t be able to have a healthy pregnancy, and it would result in death of myself or the baby,” Nicole told ABC 7.

Nicole was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder, and shared her news with Fives and her husband Shawn.

“Lianna goes, ‘Well I have five. I’m looking to have one or two more,’” Kevin told ABC 7. “We looked at her, ‘What are you crazy?’ She goes, ‘Not for me.’ That’s when they offered to carry a baby for us.”

One of Nicole’s eggs was fertilized with Kevin’s sperm and transferred to Lianna’s womb. All four were on hand for nearly all doctors’ appointments, and even posed for a joint pregnancy photoshoot and hosted a joint baby shower, ABC 7 reported.

“I love my kids,” Lianna, whose children range in age from 1 to 13, told ABC 7. “To see people who should have kids and couldn’t upsets me.”

Lianna gave birth to Dominic and Luciana Barattini on Feb. 10, with Nicole and Kevin choosing the Fives as their godparents.

“After hearing our story, I hope that there are people out there that will help other couples because they gave us life,” Nicole told ABC 7. “They changed our lives forever.”