As a little girl I always knew I was different but growing up in the 80’s and early 90’s I didn’t know anyone that was ‘gay’. If anything, unfortunately, the ‘gay’ people I did know weren’t treated very well. I went through junior high and high school crushing on all kinds of girls but always dating a boy. I hid everything about me for as long as I could.
I had a baby when I was 18
Fast forward a few decades and a few broken hearts and in 2012 I married a woman. The marriage happened quickly, as lesbians seemingly do, and it wasn’t very ideal but we will talk about that another day. Growing up I didn’t dream about getting married and having kids, it just wasn’t something I wanted but after I was married my wife (now ex-wife) always wanted to get married and have babies. So I agreed, as I was now in my 30’s and starting to mature *giggles, and we started to discuss our options. She was 10 years younger than I was so we decided she would carry, this was an easy decision for me as it wasn’t something I ever really dreamed of and I had already given birth in my teens but again, something to talk about another day.
IUI, intrauterine insemination
We chose IUI, intrauterine insemination, a fertility treatment that involves placing sperm inside a woman’s uterus to facilitate fertility. But first things first, we had to get sperm and see our doctor. After researching many databases of sperm banks we chose one and started perusing the options. We both agreed on what we wanted from a donor and had the list of 1000’s down to 4 in just a few days. We chose a donor which are identified by a number and ordered 6 vials of sperm. After several trips and monitoring her fertility cycle we were off to the clinic for insemination.
How lucky were we to have gotten pregnant the first try
How lucky were we when we found out the first time worked. I remember that day so vividly just waiting for the doctor to call us after having gone in to see him for a pregnancy test. A few short hours after, we received the call that we were having a baby. Nine months later we gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby girl. I was instantly in love, a love I had never experienced before. Almost two years after that and the same process we gave birth to another beautiful and healthy baby girl.
Now I am in my 40’s with two amazing girls that I love dearly and two incredible step kids that I also love dearly. I went from being that young woman, ahem; young tomboy that never dreamed of having kids to becoming lesbian mom and having four of them ages 4 through 7 and loving every second of it.