Yahoo Lifestyle 'Almost twins': Lesbian couple both fall pregnant to the same sperm donor
Copyright: Ken McKay/Rex Features
At first glance, babies Alfie and Scarlett Marie look like any other set of fraternal twins. But they’re not twins – the pair were born five days apart to lesbian couple Anna Jones and Kirsty Cox after both women were inseminated by the same sperm donor.
British couple Anna and Kirsty, who were ‘married’ in a civil union ceremony in 2010, initially considered IVF, but were put off by the expense.
‘We both really wanted the experience of giving birth,’ Anna says. ‘That’s when the topic of sperm donation came up. We knew it might take a while to find the right person, but we were prepared to wait.’
The ‘right person’ turned out to be hairdresser Nick Lacey, who met the couple through a relative. It was agreed that Nick would visit the couple once a week to donate sperm until one of them fell pregnant. They would carry out the insemination themselves in their own home.
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‘When we found Nick, everything fell into place, and when we found him, it all happened so fast’, says Anna. ‘To be honest, we expected it to take at least a year, if it happened at all. Especially the way we did it, we were preparing to wait a long time.’
But the wait was over very quickly – three weeks later, Kirsty became pregnant, and shortly afterwards, Anna found out that she was also expecting a baby.
Kirsty gave birth to baby Scarlett Marie on November 5, and five days later Anna gave birth to baby Alfie. Father Nick says he doesn’t think of himself as the babies’ dad, but plans to remain involved in their lives.
‘Although I don’t see myself as their dad, I adore the babies and intend to be a part of their lives forever. I never knew I’d have so much love for them,’ he says.
In Australia, same sex couples are eligible for partially-funded IVF treatment under Medicare, and some also qualify for fully-funded IVF treatment. However, last week the Catholic Archbishop of Perth, Barry Hickey, fuelled furious media debate when he spoke out against ‘modern families’, claiming that same-sex families ‘damage’ kids and contribute to child abuse and neglect.
But Anna and Kirsty are not interested in the politics, they’re simply happy to have their two much-wanted children.
‘We are over the moon,’ Anna says. ‘We have two beautiful babies, and we’re a really happy family. We never thought we would have children at all, but now we’ve been blessed with a family and we can’t thank Nick enough for what he’s given us.’
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