“We wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Two women in the US have become the first same-sex couple in the world to both carry the same baby.
Ashleigh and Bliss Coulter from Texas welcomed a baby boy, Stetson, five months ago.
Stetson was conceived through IVF using an egg from Bliss and sperm from a donor.
The procedure saw eggs being harvested from Bliss and then inseminated with the sperm.
In IVF, the sperm and eggs are usually incubated together in a laboratory over a number of days to allow for fertilisation.
In this instance, the eggs and sperm were incubated in a small device known as an INVOcell which was implanted in Bliss’ vagina.
After the incubation period of five days was over, the embryos were taken out of Bliss and one was implanted in Ashleigh, who carried their son to full term and gave birth to him.
The procedure suited both of the mothers, they said.
“Bliss wanted to have her own biological child but she didn’t want to carry,” Ashleigh told The Daily Beast.
“I always wanted to have a baby and wanted to be pregnant and carry.”
The pioneering new technology that enabled both Ashleigh and Bliss to carry their son was made a reality by Dr Kathleen Doody of The Center for Assisted Reproduction.
She and her husband Dr Kevin Doody have performed this type of IVF, known as Effortless IVF, on over 200 heterosexual couples but Ashleigh and Bliss were their first same-sex couple to undergo the procedure.
“It was so special to us because we ended up both getting to carry and we wouldn’t change it for the world,” Ashleigh said
