Same-sex couple give birth three days apart after thinking an at-home insemination kit wouldn’t work
The couple could not afford expensive fertility clinics so decided to try at home insemination kits. (thelvlog/ Instagram)
When a same-sex couple both used £72 at home insemination kits, they never imagined that they would both become pregnant on the first try.
Karina Rincon, 32, and Kelly Mesa, 31, first met when they were at school in Venezuela.
They both moved to the United States after they graduated, and after moving around separately reconnected when they both found themselves living in Miami, Florida.
Both women had only dated men before, but ended up falling in love, they told Metro.
Rincon said: “Whenever I’d hear Kelly talking about boyfriends, I’d feel almost jealous and started to realise that it was because I had romantic feelings for her… I was so nervous, as I had no idea how she would take it, but I had to tell her how I felt. Thankfully, she felt the same.”
The couple decided to both do the insemination to double their chances. (thelvlog/ Instagram)
They kept their relationship a secret at first, but eventually came out to their families in 2017 and got married shortly afterwards.
The couple knew that they wanted children together, but realised they couldn’t afford hugely expensive fertility clinics.
Mesa said: “Some of the clinics we looked at would have cost thousands and thousands – and that was just to find the donor.
“Then, there’d be all the costs of insemination, medication, doctors’ appointments and so on.”
They did some research, found some at home insemination kits online for $89 (£72), and connected with a sperm donor using a donor-matching site, but they knew the chances were slim without medical assistance.
Same-sex couple fell pregnant with ‘almost twins’ after both using insemination kit.
While going through the process, Mesa found out she had been offered a job in California, which would mean moving away from their sperm donor.
So, the couple decided they would both do the insemination to double their chances.
A few weeks later, having just moved into their new home, they took pregnancy tests which both came out positive.
“We took some more tests which confirmed it,” said Rincon. “We were both expecting, and around four weeks along. We couldn’t believe it – what were the chances?”
Babies Leo and Sophie, who Rincon and Mesa describe as “almost twins”, were born three days apart in July, 2019.
Rincon said: “I’m really glad we didn’t go into labour at the same time.
“That was a worry of ours, but thankfully, being three days apart meant that I could be there when Leo was born and Kelly could when Sophie was.”
The couple said people assumed that as two pregnant women in a relationship they would “kill each other”, but Rincon said: “Actually, it was great to go through this with the love of my life, who completely understood how I was feeling.”
Babies Leo and Sophie were born three days apart in July, 2019.(thelvlog/ Instagram)
She added: “We both understood how the other was feeling. It was nothing like it would have been if we’d had babies with men, where one of us wouldn’t be facing the limitations and challenges of pregnancy.
“The only difficult thing was sharing a bed with two ginormous bellies and both of us wanting to pee every five minutes.”
