Case Studies
Baby Kieran a dream-come-true for his two mums
Partners Katie Flint and Tracy Sewell had always dreamt of having children together. But right from the start of their relationship the couple knew achieving their dream would not be simple.
To get pregnant, they knew they would need fertility treatment using donor sperm. "We always knew we wanted children as soon as we got together," said Katie. "But we were worried we might be refused treatment."
"We wanted an anonymous donor to be used but were concerned about whether we would find someone who was happy for their sperm to be used by a same sex couple."
At first Katie, 26, and Tracy, 27, investigated clinics in London which specialise in helping same sex couples to become pregnant. But the fact that the clinics were advertised as 'lesbian friendly' put them off.
"Some of the clinics were pushing for lesbian women, or single women," said Katie. "We found that rather patronising. We didn't want to be stereotyped."
So the couple, from Spalding in Lincolnshire, looked closer to home. They decided to try their luck at Bourn Hall Clinic, in Cambridgeshire, where they found the staff to be caring and non-discriminatory.
"We saw the top man at Bourn," said Katie. "We got asked the same questions everyone gets asked. We had to say how long we’d been together and show that we planned to stay together. We also had to show we were financially able to provide for a child.
"The clinic also said they'd have to find a donor who had agreed to give sperm to same sex couples."
Once a donor had been found, the couple was able to go ahead with intrauterine insemination (IUI) treatment where sperm are artificially placed in the uterus using a catheter. They decided that Katie would carry the baby using her eggs as Tracy had been involved in a serious car accident when she was younger which had damaged her pelvis.
Before treatment, Katie had to have tests to check if her fallopian tubes were blocked, but everything was normal. Katie fell pregnant at the first attempt but doctors soon realised that she had an ectopic pregnancy and she had to have one of her fallopian tubes removed.
The couple were devastated, but decided to try again.
On their second attempt at IUI Katie became pregnant. Despite suffering a blood clot on her lung at seven months, Katie gave birth just 10 days early to the couple's son Kieran Sewell who was a healthy 7lb 4oz.
"We were over the moon," said Katie. "We'd always wanted to be parents.
"Kieran was perfectly healthy. We couldn't believe he was here."
Tracy, a nurse, said, "Not much brings me to tears, but I was really choked up. It was amazing."
Both Katie's and Tracy's parents treat Kieran as their own grandson. "They all love him to pieces," said Katie. "The fact that I gave birth to Kieran doesn't mean nearly as much as the fact that Tracy and I are both his parents and that we are bringing him up together."
Katie and Tracy would recommend other same sex couples to seek treatment at Bourn Hall Clinic. Tracy said, “Bourn Hall was very welcoming and we weren’t discriminated against."
"There's a lot of stress involved, but we don't take much seriously in life – when we were waiting at the clinic for treatment we were always laughing. The staff are friendly and always helpful.
"We can't thank Dr Mathews and his team enough for helping make our dream come true. We know how lucky we are to have such a beautiful baby boy and would recommend the clinic to all couples in our situation."
More information on fertility choices for Lesbian couples.
