Married British husbands Simon and Graeme Berney-Edwards recently welcomed twins, one half of which they each biologically fathered, reported The Mirror.
Twins Alexandra and Calder, fathered by Simon and Graeme respectively, are the first IVF twins to have two different fathers in the UK. The babies were born via surrogate Meg Stone with anonymously donated eggs.
“It is amazing that Graeme and I have been able to father one of our twins each,” Simon told The Mirror. “Meg did an amazing job – and it meant she was actually pregnant by two men at the same time. It’s thanks to the wonder of IVF that we have been able to achieve our dream.”
“We couldn’t decide on who would be the biological father,” Simon added. “Then the clinic told us it could be both of us. They said that we could have half the embryos fertilized with my sperm and then half with Graeme’s sperm.”
The treatment, where two embryos fertilized by different men are both implanted, isn’t practiced in the UK, so the couple had to find their surrogate in Canada. While there, the couple got married and went on their honeymoon.
After their story was reported, Simon said the couple received a lot of online support.
“We’ve been quite overwhelmed by the response,” Simon told Gay Star News. “There have been so many lovely comments. It’s nice when complete strangers have taken the time to get in touch to wish us well.”
As for the surrogate, Stone is nothing but happy for the couple.
“Simon and Graeme are like brothers to me now,” she said. “They call me the twins’ Tummy Mummy, which I love. It was amazing being pregnant with embryos that they had both fathered. Science is an amazing thing.”