Sisterly bond: Akron doctor in training delivers sister's first baby

TNT sports reporter Allie LaForce is celebrating not only her first Mother's Day, but also the special way she became a mother.

Her younger sister, Dr. AuBree LaForce, who is a Cleveland Clinic Akron General family medicine resident doctor in training, delivered Allie's first baby last fall.

But the journey to birth for Jacob Michael Smith on Nov. 10, 2022, in Akron was one filled with peaks and valleys.

Allie, who is the lead NBA sideline reporter for TNT, and her husband, Joe Smith, a veteran Major League Baseball pitcher, spent many years grappling with the possibility that Joe had a 50-50 chance of passing on a gene to his children for Huntington’s disease, a fatal genetic disorder.

He lost his mother to the disease in 2020.

Two sports powerhouses fall in love

Allie, 34, graduated from Ohio University and started her career at Fox 8 News Cleveland and SportsTime Ohio. She then took a national job with CBS Sports Network covering the Southeastern Conference (SEC) football and NCAA March Madness basketball. A few years ago, she joined TNT as an NBA sideline reporter.

Joe, 38, played for Wright State University before playing in the Major Leagues for 16 years. He is currently not on a roster but is also not officially retired, Allie said.

Right now, he’s “Daddy day care,” she joked during a recent call while at home with Jacob and Joe.

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The two Ohio natives have been together since 2011, meeting while Joe was pitching for Cleveland and she was at Fox 8. Joe was with Cleveland from 2008 to 2013.

They married in 2015 and have moved a total of 29 times, bouncing between Ohio in the offseasons and the cities where Joe went for spring training and baseball seasons.

“And then if you get traded, you have to move to another city, which has happened to us multiple times,” she said.

Journey to a baby for NBA on TNT's Allie LaForce

Allie and Joe knew they wanted to have a baby, but they didn't want to potentially pass along a fatal disease to their child.

Joe’s mom, Lee, was diagnosed in 2012 with Huntington’s disease, an inherited disorder that causes nerve cells in parts of the brain to gradually break down and die. People living with the disease develop uncontrollable dance-like movements and abnormal body postures, as well as problems with behavior, emotion, thinking and personality, according to the National Institutes of Health.

There are more than 41,000 symptomatic Americans and more than 200,000 at risk of inheriting the disease, according to the Huntington’s Disease Society of America.

Lee Smith died in 2020, just shy of turning 62.

Allie and Joe have founded The Help Cure HD Foundation, which aims to improve the quality of life for those affected by the disease.

Joe has opted not to get tested for Huntington’s disease, but he and Allie used in-vitro fertilization treatments and services through Cleveland Clinic to test their embryos. They first learned about the pre-implantation genetic testing, called PGT-IVF, to screen embryos for Huntington’s disease in 2015 and began researching it.

They started their own IVF journey in 2019 to have embryos without the gene, “therefore guaranteeing that our children wouldn't have it and also their children, and it's eliminated from the family line forever now,” Allie said.

Their foundation has awarded more than 136 grants to other couples for PGT-IVF procedure and testing. One round of IVF treatments, testing, egg retrieval and implantation can cost as much as $37,000, Allie said. The couple went through two rounds.

'You're going to deliver my babies'

The LaForce family grew up on the west side of Cleveland. Allie is the oldest, followed by their brother and AuBree, who is six years younger than Allie.

AuBree was in seventh grade when she decided to be a doctor. She was inspired by a family member who died from cancer at a young age.

That was the first time the sisters talked about AuBree potentially delivering Allie’s babies.

“It was kind of just like a nonchalant comment we would say to each other, like, ‘You’re going to deliver my babies,’” AuBree recalled.

The future physician graduated from the University of Mount Union and Northeast Ohio Medical University in Rootstown Township and then began her medical residency at Akron General in 2021.

The sisters, who are best friends, say it was God’s timing that allowed them to be in the same state to coordinate the birth.

But it took a lot of planning and heartaches.

The journey to parenthood was delayed by moves and a miscarriage in late 2021.

Allie blogged about their experience on their foundation’s website, www.helpcurehd.org.

Allie found out she was pregnant again in March 2022. When she was in her third trimester, she suddenly had to find a new obstetrician after Joe was released from the Minnesota Twins and the couple returned to Ohio

AuBree met with Dr. Natalie Bowersox, the residency director of obstetrics and gynecology at Akron General, for a physician recommendation.

AuBree also asked if she could be the one to deliver her sister's baby. AuBree, a second-year resident, had completed the ob/gyn rotation months earlier with Bowersox and had delivered many babies.

Bowersox quickly embraced the idea.

Bowersox knew how special being in the delivery room for a sibling can be for a doctor. She was in the delivery room for her sister but did not deliver the baby. Bowersox has also seen husbands deliver their babies.

“It was nice to take her experiences and allow her to participate in something that they’ll be able to talk about forever," said Bowersox. “It’s not very often you can say ‘Oh, I was in the room when you were born — and I delivered you.’”

Prepping for the baby

Allie was induced at 7 a.m. Nov. 9.

Throughout the day, AuBree came in to check on her sister while tending to other patients. As the day turned into night, AuBree sent their extended family home while Allie's labor slowly progressed.

When it became clear Allie was ready to push, AuBree “called in the troops.” The family is very close, the sisters said, and their parents, their aunt and their brother and his wife were all in the delivery room with Allie, Joe and AuBree.

“Nobody wanted to leave and she didn’t want anybody to leave, and so we just had some bleacher seating with the couch,” said AuBree.

Because AuBree knows Allie so well, she knew her sister did well with positive reinforcement.

“I also knew she is an athlete and she’s competitive and so am I, so I had our nurse do a tug-of-war method,” in which Allie is holding one end of a sheet while pushing and the nurse held the other end, AuBree explained.

Allie was a “rock star,” said AuBree.

AuBree said though the preparation leading up to the delivery felt different because it was her sister, she was in the zone during the actual delivery.

“I went full-on like it’s Game Time mode, so I kind of compartmentalized all those emotions,” AuBree said. “Let’s get him out, have him be healthy, have her be healthy and then I can celebrate after.

“It took an hour after that it really hit me, like “Oh my gosh, what just happened’ once I knew she was safe and baby was safe,” said AuBree.

Allie said she knew everything was going to be OK and that it was all meant to be.

“I knew that AuBree was extremely educated and prepared and had worked so hard to be in this position that God led her to as well,” Allie said. “I was completely at peace, and I loved having my family in there.

“It was so fun to watch her in her element,” Allie said.

Another physician was in the delivery room and there were other doctors on standby, if needed.

“They had my back the whole time, but her delivery was really overall completely unremarkable and everything went as planned, which was awesome,” AuBree said.

Jacob Michael Smith, named because the couple met at then-Jacobs Field, was born at 1:51 a.m. and was 6 pounds, 15 ounces and 21 inches long.

Future deliveries?

One of the first things Allie said to AuBree was, "You have to deliver my next kid."

"Probably not because I’m going to be a family medicine doctor," AuBree replied.

“I’m going to have to find another doctor to deliver my next child even though if it could be AuBree, that’s what I would prefer," Allie said.

The couple have three more embryos that don’t have Huntington’s disease. Allie said that's an amazing blessing.

“I would like to have them all. We’ll just see with my job and with Joe’s job what kind of help we can get,” said Allie. “We’ll take each day as it comes.”

AuBree said this was a one-time deal because the timing worked out. She has plans to complete a sports medicine fellowship, “so I’ll be taking care of the kiddos when they start T-ball instead,” she said.

The sisters’ brother and his wife are also expecting a baby, but there are no plans for AuBree to deliver the baby; her sister-in-law will deliver at a hospital closer to their home.

Allie took 12 weeks off from work and has been back on the road for the NBA post-season.

She often flies or drives home in between games just to be with the baby.

“We’ve lived in every big city and Joe has pitched in a World Series and I’ve covered championships, so we’ve done all that stuff, " she said. "Having a kid just gave us a sense of completion — that all the hard work and travel and everything came full circle and is worth it because we’re now home with the greatest love of our life.”

Beacon Journal staff reporter Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ. To see her most recent stories and columns, go to www.tinyurl.com/bettylinfisher.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: NBA on TNT reporter Allie LaForce and MLB Joe Smith's special delivery