by Leah Sorias

LISA Melville and her partner Shackiba St Louis yesterday welcomed their baby daughter, Miracle, into the world. Their daughter may be as close to a miracle as the gay couple can ever expect. Using sperm donated by a gay friend, who prefers to remain anonymous, the couple said they performed an at-home insemination on May 14.

“When she did the test by the doctor, (the doctor) said she was pregnant. I explained to the doctor what I did and she told me she was amazed by what I did and that I was brave,” she said. “I said I just wanted to make her happy. This was what she wanted.”

St Louis said she, too, was overjoyed, as Miracle is her first baby.

Doctor: They’re very lucky

Gynaecologist and obstetrician Dr Sherene Kalloo said it was the first time she had heard of an at-home insemination locally.

“There are more gay couples who are coming with suggestions that they will like to have babies. However, the procedure for conception to take place requires a donor, which can be a male partner that they know, or they can go to the sperm bank, which we do have here. But this is the first time I’m hearing of somebody doing it themselves,” she told the Express in a phone interview. Read more via Daily Express