After mom's stillborn birth and cancer diagnosis, her cousin steps up as surrogate

Marisa Merliss and her husband Mike waited almost eight years to have children.

The couple had big careers — Marisa was a professional dancer and pediatric nurse before becoming a fitness instructor and Mike is a Broadway performer. After two and half years of trying, Marisa got pregnant with a little girl they nicknamed "She-ra."

Marisa said the pregnancy was healthy and full-term, however in June 2020, She-ra was stillborn. "It was the most devastating moment of our lives," Marisa told TODAY on March 6.

Two weeks later, Marisa developed a lump on her inner thigh which doctors said was synovial sarcoma, a rare cancer that, according to the Mayo Clinic, grows in the arms and legs.

Marisa’s cousin Amanda, who lives in Kansas City, Missouri offered to serve as the couple’s surrogate. Marisa and Mike accepted and harvested her eggs within a few weeks. Six weeks after their daughter's stillbirth, Marisa started chemotherapy treatments and had surgery.

In late 2022, one embryo was transferred to Amanda and on July 13, 2023, their rainbow baby Maya Jo was born. Marisa said one of the first things Maya Jo did was smile at her, then at Amanda.

"After all of the ups and downs, Maya is our dream come true," said Marissa.

On March 6, Marisa and Amanda and 7-month-old Maya Jo appeared on TODAY.

"I'm feeling really good," Marisa told Sheinelle Jones, Dylan Dreyer and Craig Melvin, while holding Maya Jo on her lap. "I've been cancer-free for three and a half years. It was a really difficult recovery but overall I feel great."

Amanda said she was eager to carry her cousin's baby.

"I didn't even think about it, honestly," she said. After seeing Mike's Facebook post about Marisa's diagnosis and their hopes of having baby, possibly by a surrogate, she picked up the phone.

"I said, 'When you're ready, pick me! I want to do it,'" said Amanda. Although she hadn't ran the idea past her husband A.J., says Amanda, he was completely supportive.

"No big deal," she joked. "We have three kids of our own. He's been through it."

Mike was invited on stage by the TODAY crew, where he gushed about his daughter while wearing a "Girl Dad" shirt.

"I didn't know a love like this ... existed — I adore my wife and all my friends," he said, breaking into tears. "Having this beautiful energy around us all day long of joy and love, and a community that helped bring her here ... has just been the greatest time of our lives."

Marisa agrees.

"She's super chill and happy and it's almost like, God or the universe or whatever you believe in, gave us this ... angelic baby after all the hell we've been through," says Marisa. "It just feels like such a gift."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com