I find her annoying on DWTS but nevertheless a HUGE CONGRATS is in order!!!! I can't imagine having a hysterectomy in my 20's!!! That must have been devastating!! Its wonderful she is able to have a surrogate!

Congratulations!!! I watched DWTS last night and found you so fun-- you made me smile!!

I am a HUGE fan and this is great news, especially after all she has been through.

She is the sweetest....I love her, she is so bubbly! I am so happy for her.....Congrats!

Congratulations and blessings to her and her husband. I never knew much about Marissa but watching her on DWTS is really fun. I love how happy she seems and how she shows it. Wonderful news!

I watched her last night on DWTS and I thought she was in her mid 20's! I never would have guessed she was in her mid 30's, and having a family! I bet she'll make a wonderful mother.

Thats great news, I am so happy for them both! I am in my 20s now and cannot imagine being told I need a hysterectomy. I am confused though, does that mean the baby will be theirs genetically? Not that it will make a difference of course, your child is still your child whether step-parent or adoptive parents, i was just wondering :s

Congrats to her. Ive always loved her and im glad she is getting a chance to have a baby.

If she was in her 20's when she had her hysterectomy, I think it is very likely that she had her eggs harvested. I have heard of that happening a lot.

Her bubbliness is contagious...she's so full of exhuberance, and look at all she's been through....congratulations to her and her husband on this exciting news! I'm enjoying her on DWTS.

I just read an article that stated she did have her eggs harvested.

In the article on People.com about her cancer it says she kept her ovaries but her cervix (at least part of it) and uterus were removed. She did not have to go through chemo either. I assume it would be her own biological child because that part of her reproductive system is still intact.

Sarah's note: Thanks, I'll change the post around a bit.

That is SO awesome for them!! It is truly a miracle that modern technology can help them in their dream to have a family. Major kudos to the surrogate mother; that would be, for me, quite an emotional rollercoaster to do something like that.

Sarah- can we please remove that link? It is incredibly offensive. While it does state from a People interview that she did indeed harvest her eggs, it is horribly one-sided and narrow minded from an extremely right wing standpoint.

Maybe finding the link to the people article would be more helpful?

Sarah's note: I can take it out. I didn't read what she had linked.

here is the link to the original People article- that is a lot more correct than the opinions on the blog:

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20009915,00.html

How lovely for marissa. I don't know much about her, but going through cancer when young is so sad. Wonderful news she will get to be a mom, she seems sweet.

Oh that's cool she's going to be a mother. When I first read the headline here about her becoming a mother, I wondered how she could be on DWTS AND pregnant, but that was before I knew about her female issues and inability to bear children herself anymore.*

Great that she can still become a mother through a surrogate and I hope all goes well for them all.

(*Actually as long as her health continues to be good, she can have the best of both worlds! She can simultaneously be an 'expectant mom' and still dance up a storm & possibly lose weight/get in shape on DWTS! lol!)

I saw Marissa in Hairspray back in 2004, and she was incredible. Bubbly, just all around fabulous! I'm very excited for them!

I was wondering how she was going to do on DWTS (I admit I haven't watched), mostly b/c she is literally about 4'10 and finding a partner would be difficult!

In the People article, they say the baby is a boy and they are naming it Zev.

There's an article in People magazine this week that says the pregnancy is five months along, the baby is to be a boy, and they have named him Zev.

Congrats to Marissa and Judah!

That is so weird, my friend just had a boy and named him Zev Fannon- I had never heard of the name and now twice I have!

It must have been terrifying for Marissa to have cancer and need a hysterctomy in her 20's. It is so wonderful that she and Judah can experience the joy of being parents after her illness. I am so happy for them!

Hey All,

I think that this is over the top wonderful news! She is so bubbly and reminds me of my nephew's wife Tabby (They just had twins..boy & girl both over 6 pounds at 36 weeks).

She is just such a nice person. I am 31 and I had a hysterectomy on November 27, 2007. My sister had hers when she was 25 back in 2006. It seems like there are more women with reproductive issues and cervical cancer than there were 20 years ago. That or it just seems like there are due to modern technology. I also had cervical cancer and I was told that I would never have children..(mine was the cone cut no Chemo) ...that I would never carry a child to term..but I was blessed with a miracle baby, AJ, who went WAY past his November 14th due date (He was born 12-11 after I was induced on 12-10) Now he is a thriving 9 year-old who LOVES The Jonas Brothers!

My hysterectomy was due to the damage that my LUPUS meds have caused in my pituitary gland that sent the wrong message and I basically had a 6 month period. I am content having AJ I have tons and tons of nieces and nephews and always more on the way!.

~~Josie Kay~~

Wow Josie Kay I got goose bumps reading your post. Congratulations on A.J. He is certainly a blessing and a miracle baby.

HA...I have never heard of anyone else with that name. We named our son that 6 years ago! Great choice :)

I am originally from SoCal. There is an LA Couny Supervisor named Zev Yaroslavsky.

Zev is a very popular hebrew name. I have many orthodox Jewish friends named Zev. It means "wolf" and is typically short for Zevulan (or Zebulan in English, one of Jacob's 12 sons - when his mother Leah bore him, she exclaimed, "God has provided me with a good dowry").

I met Marissa a few times back when she was in Hairspray and she is really a lovely person. I am so thrilled for her and her husband, what wonderful news!

actually zev isn't usually short for zevulun-it's usually a nickname for ze'ev- which means wolf. zevulun means someting else entirely. and yes it is a very common name among orthodox jews- my brother in laws name is zevy (nickname)

I love the name Lev ("heart" in Hebrew)!

As a Gestational Surrogate myself, it thrills me to read this story! I'm so happy for Marissa and her husband!

Perhaps this is nitpicky but embryos are not "implanted" they are transferred. Not all transferred embryos implant but implantation is the beginning of a pregnancy. I am a veteran of IVF (which is what made Marissa's pregnancy possible) and trust me, everyone one who has been through it cringes when they see the incorrect terminology.