Erica Huston-Elem and Katelin Buchanan have been best friends since birth.

As the best friends grew older, they shared milestones and significant life events with one another, such as graduations and even weddings. Huston-Elem now has two children, aged 7 and 4, but Buchanan’s journey to motherhood has been arduous. She’s had many 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠  and multiple cycles of in vitro fertilization that have failed (IVF).

“Our moms were best friends! Her mom is my godmother … we grew up very much like family,” Huston-Elem, 34, tells 𝑃𝐸𝑂𝑃𝐿𝐸. “We just grew up together like siblings. Our friendship has been more than a friendship, it’s a sisterhood. We’ve been there through all our life’s experiences.”

She recalls a 2015 conversation with Buchanan: “The moment I realized I could do something more to actually help her and volunteer to carry her baby for her was something I felt very passionate about. I told her … ‘I’d be more than willing to do it for you.’”

“Over a number of years, there was a lot of loss and heartache on her part. For me, as her best friend, watching her go through that and feeling completely helpless, it was a really difficult situation,” Huston-Elem tells 𝑃𝐸𝑂𝑃𝐿𝐸.

Later, Buchanan, of California, learned from doctors that she is unable to carry a baby to term. With that, Huston-Elem jumped into action, and the best friends began preparing for the surrogacy process with Huston-Elem as Buchanan’s gestational carrier.

By 2017, Huston-Elem was carrying twin babies for her best friend.

“Katelin and I talked a million times a day [throughout the pregnancy]. It brought us really close — even closer than we were before,” she tells 𝑃𝐸𝑂𝑃𝐿𝐸. “We celebrated each milestone. The pregnancy was really, really joyful.”

Huston-Elem attributes her easy pregnancy to her support system, complimenting her company, Deloitte, for providing her with 16 weeks of paid maternity leave. Her employees even gave her flowers while she was in the hospital, she claims.

On March 20, Huston-Elem gave birth to Poppy and Oliver Buchanan at 35 weeks. The excited mom and her husband were in the delivery room for the birth.

“Everyone in the room was in such a good mood. It was honestly one of the finest moments of my life when those twins came out and were delivered to Katelin and her husband,” she exclaims. “It was fantastic. “All right, goal done!” I thought.

Buchanan was able to take the twins to their California home earlier this month, just in time for Mother’s Day, after they stayed in the Virginia hospital for many weeks.

“Seeing [Buchanan] as a mother made it all worthwhile.” She’s been wanting this for a long time, and it comes naturally to her. Huston-Elem tells 𝑃𝐸𝑂𝑃𝐿𝐸 of Buchanan, “She is so great with those kids and so kind and everything I always thought she would be.” “The greatest delight of my life has been seeing her happy.”