A baby has been born via surrogacy to a gay couple in Northern Ireland, with the entire process taking place in the country for the first time.
Wren Coyle, was born to dads Patrick and Jon Coyle following treatment at a clinic in Belfast, with Patrick's sister, Charley Mellon, acting as a surrogate while the eggs were donated by a local woman. The couple found their egg donor after the clinic advertised in a local paper.
They told the Derry Journal: 'They had a nurse there who was responsible for finding egg and sperm donors so she put it in a Belfast newspaper and about a week later, someone came to donate their eggs and specified that they wanted it to go to a gay couple.'
Mellon offered to become a surrogate after Patrick and Jon had been discussing adoption and fostering options. They both share much admiration for Mellon after she carried and gave birth to their child, commenting: 'She had already been through the pain of labour and carrying a baby before but she did it again for us. Even to look at our own mothers and understand what they went through, it's an unbelievable thing to do.'
The new parents wished to share their story to show that gay couples having children is possible and have now begun a legal process to add both their names to Wren's birth certificate which could be another first for Northern Ireland, where gay marriage was legalised in 2020.
The couple's ability to attend appointments during the pregnancy was disrupted by COVID-19 restrictions, but they told the Derry Journal that measures were put in place in order to help the intended parents to be as involved as possible.
'We got in touch with the head midwife on the wards, Brenda McClafferty, and she was amazing. She looked at our case from start to finish and she put a pregnancy plan in place and made sure there was no issue with us going in. She wasn’t working the night Charley went into labour but she came in the next morning and heard everything with some other nurses to congratulate us. It was so lovely.'
Having a same sex surrogacy arrangement in Northern Ireland is an important precedent for the devolved UK nation, following developments in the law surrounding same sex parenthood and surrogacy in the Republic of Ireland. This recent story could raise awareness to enable more same sex couples to become parents via surrogacy in Northern Ireland, without having to leave the country.
Sources and References
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Dads become first same-sex couple to have baby via surrogacy without leaving Northern Ireland
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Derry couple become dads to the first baby born through surrogacy completely in the north
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There’s loads of ways to be a family': Derry dads make surrogacy history
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Derry dads become first couple to have baby through surrogacy without leaving Northern Ireland
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