2 Nov, 2023 @ 14:00
1 min read

Miracle baby: Lesbian couple in Spain are first in Europe to give birth to child they BOTH carried

A SPANISH lesbian couple have become the first in Europe to give birth to a baby they both carried. 

Derek, weighing 3.3kg, was born in the Hospital Juaneda Miramar de Mallorca on Monday, October 30. 

He is the first European baby born through INVOcell, a technique which allows two women to carry a baby. 

His mothers, Azahara, 27, and Estefania, 30, worked with doctors Gustavo Carti and Miriam Mateos from Juaneda Fertility to become mothers. 

The proud mothers, their son Derek and the doctors behind the ‘miracle baby’. Photo: Juaneda Hospitals

Also known as ‘reciprocal effortless IVF’, the technique starts like traditional IVF, with egg production and retrieval from the mothers. 

Then, the egg is combined with donor sperm. The egg is subsequently transferred to a device known as an ‘invocell’ and placed inside one of the mother’s bodies, below the cervix, to allow for fertilisation. 

The embryos are then removed and frozen, until the other mother is prepared to carry the baby through hormone injections. 

The second mother carries the embryo in her uterus for the next nine months and ultimately gives birth to the baby. 

For Azahara and Estefania, the process began in March this year, when Estefania hosted the egg fertilisation. 

Then, Azahara carried Derek for nine months, giving birth to a healthy baby boy on Monday. 

They told ABC: “Thanks to this technique, we can say we both carried our baby. That is really special.” 

INVOcell technology was first used in Texas in 2018 to allow lesbian couple Bliss and Ashleigh Coulter to carry their son, Stetson.  

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Yzabelle Bostyn

Yzabelle Bostyn is an NCTJ trained journalist who started her journalistic career at the Olive Press in 2023.
Before moving to Spain, she studied for a BA in English Literature and Hispanic Studies at the University of Sheffield.
After graduating she moved to the university’s journalism department, one of the best in the UK.
Throughout the past few years, she has taken on many roles including social media marketing, copywriting and radio presenting.
She then took a year out to travel Latin America, scaling volcanoes in Guatemala and swimming with sharks in Belize.
Then, she came to the Olive Press last year where she has honed her travel writing skills and reported on many fantastic experiences such as the Al Andalus luxury train.
She has also undertaken many investigations, looking into complex issues like Spain’s rental crisis and rising cancer rates.
Always willing to help, she has exposed many frauds and scams, working alongside victims to achieve justice.
She is most proud of her work on Nolotil, a drug linked to the deaths of many Brits in Spain.
A campaign launched by Yzabelle has received considerable support and her coverage has been by the UK and Spanish media alike.
Her writing has featured on many UK news outlets from the Sun to the Mail Online, who contracted her to report for them in Tenerife on growing tourism issues.
Recently, she has appeared on Times Radio covering deadly flooding in Valencia.

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