A New Zealand lesbian couple who found out they’re both pregnant to the same sperm donor may give birth at the same time later this year.
Kat Buchanan and fiancee Taryn Cumming knew they wanted children from the beginning of their two-year relationship.
The Auckland couple told the Daily Mail they originally planned to wait until the end of the year to grow their family.
But the women’s doctors advised them they both had lower egg reserves for their age. This makes it more difficult to conceive. As a result the couple fast-tracked their baby plans, but an “extremely expensive” process.
“IVF is very expensive here. A straight couple can try and conceive at home and if not successful after a year they qualify for public funded IVF,” Taryn explained.
“As a lesbian couple that doesn’t count. We would have to have six cycles of IUI [intrauterine insemination] at a clinic before qualifying for public funded IVF.”
Instead, the couple turned to social media and say they found the “perfect” donor on a private Facebook group.
“We are very lucky to have found someone really decent,” Taryn said.
“We know his medical history as well as family history. He goes for STD checks and his sperm was analysed. We have a contract in place for his and our protection.”
Lesbian couple sharing their story to help other couples
Taryn’s first attempt at self-insemination in February didn’t take. So Kat tried two weeks later, and Taryn again a fortnight after that.
By the end of March, both women had positive pregnancy tests.
The couple had planned on having two children anyway so are thrilled with the outcome.
“The doctor [said] we had a better chance of winning the lotto than getting pregnant at the same time,” Taryn said.
Taryn is now ten weeks pregnant and Kat is almost nine weeks. The pair are due just 12 days apart, on November 28 and December 10. But the couple say the babies may arrive around the same time.
Taryn and Kat told the Daily Mail they’re planning a big gender-reveal party. They already have four male and female names chosen – Luca and Nate, and Piper and Blake.
The pair say they want to share their story to help other couples. They also started blogging about their experience and to offer advice and support to others during their fertility journeys.
“We figured that this whole thing is really unique,” Taryn said.
“With all the questions we received we decided its best to just blog about it.
“This way I can tell women about our experience with artificial insemination, how we did it, what tools we used, how to find a donor and what questions to ask your donor. I love helping people.”
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