'I didn't want to keep waiting for the one so I had a sperm donor baby at 38'
08.07.2023 - 18:29
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A new mum who didn't want to keep waiting for Mr Right has welcomed a sperm donor baby.
Kate McElroy, 39, had always wanted to be a mum and decided if she was still single by her 38th birthday she would go it alone.
She contacted Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine (BCRM) to find out about trying and have a baby via sperm donor. She underwent her first round of intrauterine insemination (IUI) - where sperm is injected directly into the womb - to conceive in February 2022 and fell pregnant on her fourth round.
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The treatment cost £10k and Kate used her savings to pay for it. Her little boy, Joshua, was born on June 7, 2023, weighing 6lbs 4oz at Gloucester Royal Hospital, Gloucester.
Kate is "loving every minute of parenthood" and said she would "do it all over again". Kate, senior marketing manager, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, said: “I’d always known I wanted a child of my own - so when I found myself without a suitable partner in my mid-thirties, I had a fertility check to ensure I hadn’t already left it too late.
"At that time a friend suggested I consider going it alone, but back then it didn’t feel right. However, when my 37th birthday arrived, I promised myself that if I was still single in July 2021, when I turned 38, I would go for it.
“I come from a huge family - my dad, Gerard, 69, is one of 12, - so I’ve got lots of cousins and I’ve always loved babies. I have a very close relationship with my mum, Norma, 69 - who lives nearby - and my sister Clare, 37, who lives in Basingstoke.
"Both of them understood how much I wanted a baby and they’re incredibly supportive. Unfortunately, life was