You’ve come a long way, baby
Aspen Times Staff Writer
Greta Daley Hansen won’t be 2 years old until Aug. 16. Still, the toddler’s short life makes for quite an interesting story.
“Good Morning, America” seems to think so.
Greta and her extended Snowmass Village family – more popularly known as “Team Greta” – will be on the morning program Tuesday for a retelling of the tyke’s auspicious beginnings.
“We’re flying out first thing in the morning, and we’re going to spend a long weekend there,” said Greta’s mother, Kelly Hansen, on Friday. “We’re all really excited.”
The show must have spent quite a bit on airfare, considering the size of Greta’s entourage. And the show’s hosts should probably reserve a big chunk of air time for Team Greta’s tale.
When Kelly and Eric Hansen married nearly 10 years ago, the couple decided to start on an addition to their little family right away. However, Kelly’s doctor confirmed her worst fears: various fertility problems would not allow her to conceive a child using her own eggs.
Luckily, the Hansens have generous friends. After receiving her doctor’s disappointing news, Kelly’s confidante, California resident Laurie Shipe, offered to donate eggs to help the couple achieve their dream.
Hansen twice became pregnant using Shipe’s eggs, but ongoing health problems didn’t allow her to carry the babies to term. Diagnosed with HELLP Syndrome – a rare and potentially fatal condition that causes a pregnant woman’s red blood cells to break down and liver functions to deteriorate – Hansen feared she would never become a mother.
Then, nearly four years after Hansen’s diagnosis, another close friend stepped in to offer help. Aspen resident Amy Behrhorst offered to serve as a surrogate mother for the couple, and was the third woman involved in the baby’s birth – one would donate eggs, one would carry the fetus and a third would raise the child.
Behrhorst – and, in turn, all of Team Greta – suffered through a difficult pregnancy. The weeks of bed rest paid off in August 2001, however, when Greta Daley was born.
Greta’s story spread quickly and was featured in The Aspen Times Weekly in fall 2001. National attention followed, Kelly said.
“It’s such a positive story,” she said of the attention. “[A writer] called us and said Lifetime Magazine is interested in the story, and she interviewed us and did her own version. And Lifetime worked very closely with ‘Good Morning, America’ – they called us a couple of weeks ago and asked if they could fly us out.”
The three Hansens will be joined on the show by Behrhorst and Shipe. Shipe also plans to bring her daughter from a previous marriage, Arielle – biologically speaking, Greta’s half-sister.
Most members of Team Greta are ready for their television debut, but how will Greta herself – just a few months shy of the “Terrible Twos” – handle her close-up?
“It’s hard to say with a 2-year-old,” Hansen laughed. “Still, 95 percent of the time, she is just a happy child. She doesn’t really get upset unless there’s something to get upset about.”
“Good Morning, America” airs on ABC weekdays from 7-9 a.m. Team Greta’s interview will probably take place during the show’s second hour, Hansen said.
Jennifer Davoren’s e-mail address is jenniferd@aspentimes.com
