{"id":386695,"date":"2026-04-19T02:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T02:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/386695\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T02:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T02:58:08","slug":"te-puke-mum-casey-brady-on-surrogacy-paralysis-and-motherhood-after-motocross-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/386695\/","title":{"rendered":"Te Puke mum Casey Brady on surrogacy, paralysis and motherhood after motocross crash"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThat\u2019s when we found out I had a blood condition that prevented me from carrying a baby, so we started the process of IVF and surrogacy,\u201d explains Casey, who starred in the TVNZ+ show Unbreakable, featuring extraordinary Kiwis who have overcome incredible challenges.<\/p>\n

\"Casey'sCasey’s first surrogate, Brooke, with little Billie. Photo \/ Woman’s Day<\/p>\n

Their first surrogate, Brooke Ernst, was a stranger to begin with, but Casey and Mitch spent a year getting to know her before starting the surrogacy process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had the most amazing experience with Brooke \u2013 we love her and her family so much,\u201d gushes Casey. \u201cThey moved to Christchurch when Billie was little and when she turned one, we took her down south so we could all celebrate her birthday together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted kids but never really appreciated how much parents can love their children<\/a> until I saw Billie.\u201d<\/p>\n

With more embryos \u201cready to go\u201d, Casey and Mitch decided to start trying for a second baby when Billie was just three months old. This time round, their surrogate was Casey\u2019s younger sister Jessie Henry.<\/p>\n

\"Casey'sCasey’s sister Jessie with wee Trey. Photo \/ Woman’s Day<\/p>\n

\u201cJessie\u2019s like my best friend,\u201d Casey tells. \u201cShe always wanted to be our surrogate, but when we started the process with Billie, the timing wasn\u2019t quite right as she was still having her own girls. There are hardly any boys in our family, so when Jessie heard we were ready to try again, she said, \u2018I\u2019m going to carry your boy,\u2019 and she did!\u201d<\/p>\n

Refusing to let injury define her, Casey\u2019s applied that same determination to motherhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the early days with Billie, I worried a lot about holding her safely because of my balance issues, but we figured it out,\u201d she says. \u201cThe hardest things are not being able to get up and down on the floor with the kids easily or run to them when they\u2019re crying.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CaseyCasey Brady with husband Mitch and their kids, Billie and Trey. Photo \/ Juliette Drysdale<\/p>\n

\u201cBrilliant dad\u201d Mitch, 33, has adapted the house by doing things like putting sliding doors on the sides of the cots to make it easier for his beloved wife.<\/p>\n

Billie, meanwhile, is a daddy\u2019s girl who\u2019s obsessed with her cruisy little brother.<\/p>\n

Casey says, \u201cShe\u2019s a great wee helper. I was cooking dinner recently and Trey was crying. I said, \u2018Bubba needs his dummy, but it\u2019s under his cot and Mummy can\u2019t get it right now.\u2019 I was just saying this in conversation, then two minutes later, Billie comes back with the dummy!\u201d<\/p>\n

As well as enjoying the magic of motherhood, Casey is continuing as co-owner of the New Zealand franchise of NextStep, a US gym specialising in helping people with disabilities to regain mobility and function. With three gyms in Whakat\u0101ne, Hamilton and Tauranga, the former preschool teacher is working on expanding around Aotearoa so they can help more people.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In a bid to regain as much lower-body function as possible, Casey also remains dedicated to her extensive rehabilitation programme, working tirelessly with trainers and at home with Mitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still putting in the effort and things are slowly improving,\u201d she says. \u201cI have way more feeling now, but I still want more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Together the couple are also chasing another big dream \u2013 adding a third child to their brood. \u201cI love the chaos of a big family and can imagine all the kids around the dinner table one day,\u201d Casey shares. \u201cHaving two babies is the best thing ever and we\u2019re beyond grateful for them, but we\u2019d definitely love one more in the mix!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThat\u2019s when we found out I had a blood condition that prevented me from carrying a baby, so…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386696,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1081,74,95,83851,200407,62489,6186,3549,38471,13845,68067,38115,71,3273,11546,424,2891,58723,2721,164253,111,43,139,2551,69,90,17296,46601,23569,8690,1361,102,1530],"class_list":{"0":"post-386695","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-accident","9":"tag-after","10":"tag-and","11":"tag-brady","12":"tag-bradys","13":"tag-casey","14":"tag-changed","15":"tag-crash","16":"tag-devastating","17":"tag-eight","18":"tag-feeds","19":"tag-filled","20":"tag-from","21":"tag-future","22":"tag-instantly","23":"tag-life","24":"tag-motherhood","25":"tag-motocross","26":"tag-mum","27":"tag-nappies","28":"tag-new-zealand","29":"tag-news","30":"tag-newzealand","31":"tag-night","32":"tag-nz","33":"tag-on","34":"tag-paralysis","35":"tag-puke","36":"tag-surrogacy","37":"tag-te","38":"tag-that","39":"tag-with","40":"tag-years"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}