EXCLUSIVE'We swapped embryos and now we're 推定する／予想するing each other's sons!' Lesbian couple used the same sperm 寄贈者 to fertilise their eggs but 手配中の，お尋ね者 to be biologically connected to both babies... this is how they did it
As nativity stories go, it could hardly be more modern, more 勇敢に立ち向かう or more touching. 充てるd couple Emily Patrick and Kerry Osborn are 妊娠している with each other’s babies, and will give birth within weeks of each other.
In a 開拓するing 事例／患者, the first of its 肉親，親類d known in Britain, the women swapped embryos ? both fertilised by the same sperm 寄贈者 ? during IVF?治療.?
Now Emily, 38, a creative 生産者, will give birth to a son who is biologically Kerry’s at New Year. School teacher Kerry, 35, will follow in February, giving birth to a little boy grown from Emily’s egg.
It means that, uniquely, both women are 同時に 妊娠している and will go on to raise two sons ? where one boy carries the デオキシリボ核酸 of one mother after 存在 birthed by the other, and 副／悪徳行為 versa for his sibling.
‘We 手配中の，お尋ね者 a family in which we both felt 深く，強烈に 肉体的に and emotionally connected to each other’s babies,’ says Emily. ‘There wasn’t a 詳細な計画 for this but it made sense to us.?
'With a straight couple both parents 株 in the 創造 of their child. We can’t do that. But we can be equal mothers to both sons. They’ll have the same father and we will be their mothers in different but 平等に 深遠な and loving ways.
‘Beforehand we wondered if we’d ever think about the fact that the baby we are carrying is not our own b iological child. But it’s such a physical and emotional experience feeling a child grow inside you, that there’s no way in which it’s not “yours”.’
充てるd couple Emily Patrick (権利) and Kerry Osborn (left) are 妊娠している with each other’s babies, and will give birth within weeks of each other. Pictured: 持つ／拘留するing their baby ざっと目を通すs
In a 開拓するing 事例／患者, the first of its 肉親，親類d known in Britain, the women swapped embryos ? both fertilised by the same sperm 寄贈者 ? during IVF 治療
Now Emily, 38, a creative 生産者, will give birth to a son who is biologically Kerry’s at New Year. Pictured:?Emily 持つ／拘留するing her baby ざっと目を通す
School teacher Kerry, 35, will follow in February, giving birth to a little boy grown from Emily’s egg. Pictured:?Kerry 持つ／拘留するing her baby ざっと目を通す
It means that, uniquely, both women are 同時に 妊娠している and will go on to raise two sons. Pictured: Together, with their retired greyhound Dotty
One boy will carry the デオキシリボ核酸 of one mother after 存在 birthed by the other, and 副／悪徳行為 versa for his sibling
Indeed, as Emily is talking, Kerry’s son, just a couple of weeks from his 予定 date, is kicking hard beneath her maternity ジーンズs.
Kerry continues: ‘It’s a 特権 to be 妊娠している with Emily’s baby. There was no big conversation, it just felt natural to us, doing this amazing thing with and for the person you love most.
‘We recognise that even a few years ago, this 肉親，親類d of 相互の IVF wouldn’t have been an 選択. It was much harder to be gay parents. It says a lot about how far opinions have 発展させるd that not only can we do this, but that so many people from the LGBTQ+ community are now に引き続いて our 進歩 and thinking about doing it too.
‘We don’t feel like 開拓するs, but I hope that in some sense we are and that one day soon this will be considered normal.
‘The only people I was anxious about telling were my grandparents, and all they can think about is how they’re going to be 広大な／多数の／重要な-grandparents to not one but two babies in the space of eight weeks.’
The 私的な 手続き has cost the women an 概算の £25,000, which 含むs buying sperm from an 匿名の／不明の 寄贈者 ? an American man with Dutch and German 遺産. Since he 寄付するd at a British clinic, under UK 法律 the boys will have the 権利 to know his 身元 when they turn 18, something Emily and Kerry welcome.
‘Curiosity about where you’re from is normal and natural, the boys should 絶対 have the 権利 to know who fathered them and what he’s like,’ says Kerry. ‘I don’t think there’s anyth ing to lose, but by finding out about the other half of themselves, they have everything to 伸び（る）.’
Emily 追加するs: ‘We 計画（する） on 存在 open and honest with our children from the beginning. Let’s 直面する it, the moment they realise they’ve got two mothers, they’re going to twig there was someone else 伴う／関わるd.’
As Emily is talking, Kerry’s son, just a couple of weeks from his 予定 date, is kicking hard beneath her maternity ジーンズs
Today, the couple’s most 圧力（をかける）ing problem is the fact that they’ll soon have two newborns in the pretty, all-white, 二塁打 nursery they have 用意が出来ている at the Victorian home in Gosport, Hampshire
The 私的な 手続き has cost the women an 概算の £25,000, which 含むs buying sperm from an 匿名の／不明の 寄贈者 ? an American man with Dutch and German 遺産
Since he 寄付するd at a British clinic, under UK 法律 the boys will have the 権利 to know his 身元 when they turn 18, something Emily and Kerry welcome
Today, the couple’s most 圧力（をかける）ing problem is the fact that they’ll soon have two newborns in the pretty, all-white, 二塁打 nursery they have 用意が出来ている at the Victorian home in Gosport, Hampshire, that they 株 with their retired greyhound, Dotty.
So far, they have only agreed on their firstborn’s 指名する. They are also wondering what to call themselves, since only one of them can be ‘Mummy’.
‘Maybe it’ll be Mummy and Mum, or perhaps Mummy and Mama,’ says Emily.
Their house, they say, looks like a laundry, as piles of secondhand baby grows rise with each wash. It also looks like a DIY 蓄える／店 as a 二塁打 pram, twin cots and a pair of 要約する／（宇宙ロケットの）カプセル car seats 嘘（をつく） around ? in 変化させるing 明言する／公表するs of 議会.
In short, they are as excited and as anxious as any other first-time parents, while 認めるing that the 切迫した birth of their sons will be あられ／賞賛するd as a 目印 開発 in the history of IVF. Neither Emily nor Kerry has ever struggled with their sexuality. Emily knew she was gay in her 中央の-teens and （機の）カム out to her supportive parents when she was 16. Kerry was at university to train as a teacher when she realised she was a lesbian and （機の）カム out to her 平等に 受託するing family.
They first connected in January 2017 on the dating 場所／位置 Tinder. Emily was working in New Zealand having been there for a １０年間 and Kerry was visiting.
Though in the same country, they were too far apart to 会合，会う in person but began an old-fashioned, long-distance courtship, corresponding for four months before they finally met. The first 会合 含むd Emily 負かす／撃墜する on one 膝 持つ／拘留するing a sweetie in the 形態／調整 of a （犯罪の）一味 and Kerry clutching a 瓶／封じ込める of シャンペン酒.
They have been together ever since, travelling extensively around South East Asia and New Zealand before settling in Gosport a year ago. Now their 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 株d pregnancies have put the 調印（する） on a love story six years in the making.
Their house, they say, looks like a laundry, as piles of secondhand baby grows rise with each wash
It also looks like a DIY 蓄える／店 as a 二塁打 pram, twin cots and a pair of 要約する／（宇宙ロケットの）カプセル car seats 嘘（をつく） around ? in 変化させるing 明言する／公表するs of 議会
So far, they have only agreed on their firstborn’s 指名する. They are also wondering what to call themselves, since only one of the m can be ‘Mummy’
‘We were 現実に as good as married in the space of two weeks,’ says Kerry and they both laugh and roll their 注目する，もくろむs. ‘It snowballed 急速な／放蕩な,’ agrees Emily.
Kerry was always the more maternal of the two ? she knew she 手配中の，お尋ね者 children, 反して Emily hadn’t considered it before they got together. Discussing their 未来 in the long hours of lockdown, they settled on the idea of creating a family in which they could be both 生物学の and gestational mothers.
Kerry says: ‘There was no 広大な／多数の／重要な 儀式, it was a Thursday night and we started swiping through sperm banks. The problem is that once you start, you can’t stop, there is so much choice. We chose a man about our own age who had two children and was 寄付するing for altruistic 推論する／理由s ? there were people in his family struggling with infertility and he 手配中の，お尋ね者 to help others.’
The couple were able to 検査／視察する his handwriting, 同様に as a picture of him 老年の about eight, and listened to a 記録，記録的な／記録するing of his 発言する／表明する.
‘We know what he does for a living, his hobbies, his likes and dislikes, and his family history 支援する to his grandfather’s 世代,’ says Kerry. ‘We even know he has long 四肢s and high cheekbones!
‘In short, we know enough to be able to tell our sons what traits they have 相続するd from their father.’
Making the final 選択 was, Kerry 収容する／認めるs, ‘incredibly hard’.
‘You are not doing it for yourself,’ she explains, ‘you are doing it for your children and their 未来. We 手配中の，お尋ね者 a 寄贈者 who looked a little like both of us ? but his health was our greatest 関心.’
In short, they are as excited and as anxious as any other first-time parents, while 認めるing that the 切迫した birth of their sons will be あられ／賞賛するd as a 目印 開発 in the history of IVF
They first connected in January 2017 on the dating 場所／位置 Tinder. Emily was working in New Zealand having been there for a １０年間 and Kerry was visiting. Pictured: In Queenstown, New Zealand
Though in the same country, they were too far apart to 会合，会う in person but began an old-fashioned, long-distance courtship, corresponding for four months before they finally met
The whole 過程 of fertilisation and implantation was 行為／行うd によれば the 支配するs of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology 当局, the UK’s 独立した・無所属 regulator.
It means that, 老年の 16, Emily and Kerry’s sons will be する権利を与えるd to see their father’s 十分な profile, and then at 18, they can ask for his 指名する, date and 場所 of birth, and his most 最近の 演説（する）／住所, enabling them to make 接触する if they wish. The 寄贈者 has made it （疑いを）晴らす he is happy for this to happen. Emily and Kerry began IVF in September 2021, を受けるing a baseline ざっと目を通す to check their ovaries, and 確実にするing they met their clinic’s age and 団体／死体 集まり 索引 (BMI) 基準. In July last year, after having daily 注射s for a fortnight to 刺激する their ovaries, they had their eggs collected at the same time.
Emily produced 15 eggs and Kerry 14. All were fertilised using their 寄贈者’s frozen sperm, resulting in five embryos for Emily and seven for Kerry.
The women had each other’s embryo transferred into their wombs in April but while Emily became 妊娠している with Kerry’s embryo, Kerry did not. It 簡潔に derailed their 計画（する）.
‘It was bittersweet for me,’ 収容する／認めるs Kerry, ‘but I wasn’t 荒廃させるd. How could I be? My baby was growing inside Emily.’
The couple had been 現実主義の about the chances of 失敗 for one or both of them ? in fact they’d only done a 共同の pregnancy 実験（する） because it was a Bank Holiday and they 手配中の，お尋ね者 to go for a beer.
‘Most people get 妊娠している on a night out ? but it’s not like that for a lesbian couple,’ says Emily.
Eight weeks later however, に引き続いて a second implant, Kerry too had a 肯定的な pregnancy 実験（する）.
The whole 過程 of fertilisation and implantation was 行為／行うd によれば the 支配するs of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology 当局, the UK’s 独立した・無所属 regulator
They have travelled extensively around South East Asia and New Zealand before settling in Gosport a year ago. Now their 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 株d pregnancies have put the 調印（する） on a love story six years in the making
‘That was when we cried with happiness,’ they say.
Emily 追加するs: ‘We knew we would never 悔いる doing it this way. If we had gone with the cheaper, more straightforward 選択 of carrying our own babies then there could always have been a moment when we wondered “what if”. In contrast, this is 正確に／まさに what we’d hoped for.’
Since then, while Kerry has 微風d through her pregnancy, Emily has 苦しむd sickness and dizziness. ‘In the 早期に 行う／開催する／段階s I was passing out, I have carpal tunnel syndrome in my wrists and my feet are the size of Shrek’s,’ she says.
‘自然に I have told Kerry I should have kept my own baby because he seems much more 冷気／寒がらせるd,’ jokes Emily.
‘Yes, I’m glad she’s got 地雷,’ 追加するs Kerry.
They had a ‘gender 明らかにする／漏らす’ party in October where Emily’s sister 設立する out the sexes and filled two water ピストルs, one for each mother-to-be. It wasn’t until both Emily and Kerry were dripping with blue water after squirting one-another that they realised they were both having sons. Fittingly, both women hope to have water births.
They 受託する that some people may not 認可する of what they are doing but they believe the strength of their 関係 ? and the 安全 of the home they are 準備するing for their children ? will silence any 批評. Emily says: ‘We are waiting for a 消極的な 返答, there is still homophobia out there, but we are 確信して we can 扱う it.
‘We’re doing this for ourselves, and if we become some 肉親，親類d of 役割 model for others we’ll be happy about that too. IVF has been a タブー 支配する but it shouldn’t be and we hope we can become part of that conversation.’
Emily and Kerry began IVF in September 2021, を受けるing a baseline ざっと目を通す to check their ovaries, and 確実にするing they met their clinic’s age and 団体／死体 集まり 索引 (BMI) 基準
As new mothers, the couple hope to 再開する their 探検 of the British 小島s in the 15-seater minibus they have 変えるd into a camper 先頭
They do not 心配する any その上の 合法的な 形式順守s. Kerry says: ‘We 調印するd 同意 forms at every step of the way ? this is not the same as an 採択 or a surrogacy. Both of our 指名するs will appear on the birth 証明書 as parents for both boys and the embryos that we still have in 貯蔵 are ours, not 地雷 or Kerry’s.’
As for the remaining embryos, they will be 寄付するing them to 医療の 研究 once they are 確かな they don’t want to have any more children. Kerry says: ‘We are only able to have our family because someone somewhere helped with that in the past. We are so 感謝する, so it feels like the 権利 thing for us to be altruistic now.’
As new mothers, the couple hope to 再開する their 探検 of the British 小島s in the 15-seater minibus they have 変えるd into a camper 先頭. They’d also like to get married, having put their wedding 計画（する）s on ice to 焦点（を合わせる） on having babies. Both women wear 約束 （犯罪の）一味s, although Emily’s fingers are now so swollen she has had to take hers off. Later this year, they’re taking their sons to New Zealand, to celebrate in the country where they first met.
‘People are 脅すd of stepping out of their 慰安 zone with children ? but we’ve had to do things a bit 異なって so far and we won’t be stopping now,’ says Emily. ‘It’s going to be so lovely to see each other as mothers, to be a family at last.’
- Follow Emily and Kerry’s story on Instagram @twomumstwobuns
