Lesbian couple Emily Patrick and Kerry Osborn were the first moms to do simultaneous reciprocal IVF in the U.K. In this procedure, short for in vitro mature fertilization, eggs are collected from ovaries and fertilized by sperm in a lab, then implanted into the mothers uterus.
In this case, each of the mothers got one of their eggs fertilized, and then the egg that belonged to the other was implanted in their uterus. This is the first time this has been done; usually the mothers egg is implanted in her own uterus. The IVF procedure allowed both the women to experience a closer connection with the children. Emily even affirmed how: “I was always the less maternal one, but I’ve found a whole different level of love, like a new chamber in my heart, for our babies.”
As a currently pregnant woman myself, I can assure you the feeling of the beautiful being growing inside you, kicking, and moving, is truly something special. And what makes it even more special is getting to carry a part of your partner within you. So not only does this make them closer to their children but to each other. This gives the lesbian couple the capability to carry a part of each other and grow their babies simultaneously, a beautiful part of pregnancy and motherhood amplified times two, a shared experience for a wonderful couple. Although every pregnancy is different, I bet this allowed the two moms to understand and empathize with each other about the whirl the change of hormones puts your body through.
And even if their two little boys, Elvis and Ezra, weren’t biologically theirs the journey of parenthood and the experience of the most blissful kind of love to exist in this cruel and complicated world is something anyone regardless of gender or sexual orientation should get to experience if it’s something they desire to experience. It makes me extremely happy to hear Kerry say: “I still can’t quite believe they’re both here, that we made our dream of a family a reality. We never set out to be pioneers but we hope we’ve shown other people in the LGBTQ+ community that this is achievable,”
