Next time your mother drops hints about grandchildren, ask her how much she wants them. I mean, really, really wants them. Biological ones. She reckons she'd help out with the childcare? Pish. Pay into a savings account for their tuition fees? Tosh. What about promising to bear them herself and have major abdominal surgery for the birth? Now that's more like it.

Fifty-two-year-old Crystal Sirignano has raised the bar for grandmothers everywhere by acting as a surrogate for her daughter Kendra and son-in-law Aaron. Not just that, she had twins: a 6lb 11oz boy and a 5lb 4oz girl. That's over 12lb of somebody else's baby, delivered by caesarean last Wednesday. Kendra and Aaron already have a 15-year-old adopted daughter but had had difficulty conceiving naturally, so after they had undergone a long period of fertility treatments, Crystal stepped into the breach and delivered up the goods.

"My mom did amazing," said Kendra, who, with Aaron, battles with giant cotton buds as a contestant on American Gladiators. Yes, your mom did amazing. And boy, do you owe her next Mother's Day.