A British lesbian couple has become the world’s first-ever parents to share pregnancy of the same baby in both their wombs.
Jasmine Francis-Smith, 28, and Donna Francis-Smith, 30, both carried the embryo of their 2-month-old son Otis after a treatment known as “shared motherhood.”
The IVF procedure, offered at London Women’s Clinic, places a fertilized egg in one woman’s body before the other carries the growing foetus until delivery.
A spokesman for the clinic said that this not only allows both partners a “practical and emotional stake in the pregnancy but also provides the embryo with important nutrients and other components in a natural, maternal environment.”
Army lance corporal Donna incubated the embryo for the first 18 hours following fertilization in a lab before it was transferred to Jasmine for the remainder of the pregnancy and birth.
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It’s unclear whose sperm was used for fertilization.
Jasmine, a dental nurse, gave birth to their son on September 30 in Colchester, Essex, where the family lives.
Donna said: “We’re overwhelmed, to be honest, it’s blown up massively. It’s brought us closer together emotionally.
“We’re a close couple anyway, but we both have a special bond with Otis as well, which was helped by the way we’ve done it.
“It’s my egg, and then they did the egg collection from me and then put it back into my body for 18 hours before being put into Jasmine’s body, and she became pregnant.
“Jasmine said he’s going to be an astronaut, but he can be whatever he wants to be. We’ll always support him in whatever he wants to do.
“We’re just happy that it’s worked so well, and the information is out there.
(The Sun)
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