Lesbian couple defy the odds and both become pregnant at the same time after finding a sperm donor on Facebook
Kat Buchanan and Taryn Cumming (Instagram)
A lesbian couple have become pregnant at the same time after they found a sperm donor through Facebook.
Kat Buchanan, 33, and her fiancée Taryn Cumming, 31, were planning on starting a family later this year.
But their plans were thrown into disarray when doctors told them they both had lower egg reserves than would be typical for their ages.
The couple, who live in Auckland, New Zealand, discovered that they would only be eligible for publicly funded IVF if they had six unsuccessful cycles of intrauterine insemination (IUI), which costs $1,700 per cycle.
So, they decided to take matters into their own hands. They joined a private Facebook group where potential sperm donors can match up with people looking to conceive at home.
The lesbian couple found a ‘really decent’ sperm donor through Facebook.
The couple quickly found the “perfect” man through the Facebook group, they told the Daily Mail.
“We are very lucky to have found someone really decent,” Cumming said.
“We know his medical history as well as family history. He goes for STD checks and his sperm was analysed, and we have a contract in place for his and our protection.”
Cumming first tried to get pregnant using the sperm donor’s sample in February of this year. But the first attempt failed, and two weeks later, Buchanan tried her luck.
The doctor we had [said] we had a better chance of winning the lotto than getting pregnant at the same time.
Two weeks after that, Cumming tried again. At the end of March, both women took pregnancy tests and discovered that they were both pregnant.
Buchanan is now 10 weeks pregnant while Cumming is at nine weeks. Their babies are due 12 days apart, but could be born even closer than that – or even potentially at the same time.
They are documenting their experience on YouTube and Instagram.
They are delighted with the surprise result as they planned to have two children anyway.
“The doctor we had [said] we had a better chance of winning the lotto than getting pregnant at the same time,” Cumming said.
Buchanan and Cumming have since started a YouTube channel and an Instagram account to share their experience and help other couples in similar circumstances.
“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,” Cumming said.
