Getting a puppy was my husband Justin’s idea. But the second I saw this beautiful Boston terrier, who had flown from his breeder in Arkansas to our home in Miami in March 2017, I fell in love. Clever, loving and stubborn, Lucas was so much more than a dog. He became my soulmate, and I couldn’t bear for us to be apart.
When I was hospitalised with hepatitis a few months after his arrival, I missed Lucas so much that I persuaded the nursing staff to let him stay by my side. He had an extraordinary ability to sense my emotions and was a constant source of comfort. Over the years, the two of us visited more than 30 countries together. I couldn’t imagine life without him.
But a week after his seventh birthday we found out he had lymphoma. It was devastating; I was frantic, determined to find a solution. We looked into a bone marrow transplant, but that needed a compatible donor.
We hoped Lucas’s brother from the same litter might be a fit. When that wasn’t possible, we had another idea: cloning. Initially, this wasn’t to replace Lucas, but to create a genetically identical sibling who could serve as a compatible donor.
But there wasn’t enough time for a clone to be created – Lucas died 27 days after his diagnosis. I was bereft, sitting with him for hours not knowing how I could go on. Cloning felt like a life raft: Lucas’s body might have died, but perhaps his spirit hadn’t gone.
The fact that it would cost $50,000 (nearly £40,000) was irrelevant. I swiped my credit card without even thinking about it. Luckily, I run my own successful business, so I was able to pay off the bill in full. But, even if it had cost a million dollars, I would have somehow found the money.
A clinic takes a tissue sample, reproduces new cells from it, places one of those cells in the nucleus of a female dog’s egg and then creates an embryo. A surrogate carries the embryo, and a genetically identical puppy is born. Cloning animals isn’t legal in the UK, except for scientific research purposes, but commercial cloning has been taking place in the US since 2004.
At first, Justin was supportive, but, as the process went on, he began to have second thoughts. By the time of the embryo transfer, he said that it was a ridiculous amount of money to spend. I simply replied: “I’m doing it anyway.”
It usually takes four weeks to cultivate the 1m cells aimed for, but in just 10 days the clinic had 2.9m. It felt like a sign from Lucas that he wanted to be reborn.
When I told my family and friends, many were supportive. But my parents thought it was crazy to spend so much money, and a close friend criticised me for “playing God”.
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Although I understood people’s concerns about the ethics of cloning, it was hard to hear the criticism. I felt that my grief about Lucas’s death had been invalidated. For a while, I struggled with depression. I couldn’t get out of bed for days.
But when the clinic told me their surrogate dog was pregnant, I was ecstatic.
Five months after Lucas died, the clinic called to say that two puppies had been born. Even though I’d known that multiple clones was a possibility, I felt my confidence wobble. Could Lucas’s spirit really be divided?
Six weeks later, as I waited for the clinic to bring the puppies to our apartment, I swung from hope to numbness and worry. I desperately wanted to feel Lucas reborn in the puppies I’d seen pictures of for weeks.
Then, suddenly, they were in my arms, and I felt Lucas’s presence stronger than ever. The resemblance was astonishing, not just in appearance but in personality and behaviour. In the weeks that followed, I’d cry as I watched them sit in Lucas’s favourite spots in the apartment, and display the same combination of obnoxious confidence, loyalty and happiness.
Within a week I knew that one puppy was absolutely Lucas reincarnated. I called him Lucas Prince and his brother Lucas Gabriel, after the angel.
I know that not everyone agrees with cloning. But for me it has been a miracle that has healed my heart. You can’t put a price on that.
As told to Kate Graham
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