A gay couple have become the first recorded same-sex couple in South Africa to have children born of both parents’ DNA by way of a surrogate mother.
Christo and Theo Menelaou reportedly fertilized a single egg each by way of their surrogate, resulting in the birth of triplets. The Menelaou's triplets also contain a set of identical twins.
“When you are gay, there is always the thought that it just may not be possible to be a parent no matter how much you would love to be,” Christo Menelaou told Sky News. “It’s very hard to be accepted for adoption and we were told we would always come after heterosexual couples. And then we just never thought we’d ever find a person who would want to be surrogate to a gay couple.”
According to The New York Daily News, while the birth of the triplets to a same-sex couple is a recorded first in South Africa, a similar birth occurred in America on June 28.
South Africa has strict laws when it comes to surrogacy, according to Sky News, and both the surrogate and her husband had to both appear before a judge and sign documents "insist[ing] they all agreed and were willing participants and no money would be exchanged (aside from expenses incurred as a result of the pregnancy).”
While each child born to the South African couple doesn’t contain the DNA of both fathers, a new scientific proces called IVG (In Vitro Gametogenesis) could one day make it possible for same-sex couples to have babies who are biologically related to both partners.
Congrats to this beautiful family!
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