TALIA AND CHRISTINE’S STORY
TALIA AND CHRISTINE MET THROUGH AN ACQUAINTANCE AND WERE IMMEDIATELY DRAWN TO EACH OTHER.
“S he had such an innocent face,” says Christine of their first meeting, “she seemed like a really sweet girl.” Talia recalls being scared and shy at first but found she enjoyed talking to Christine. “Christine is special for the little things she does for me,” she says, recalling the many loving notes she has left for her over the years. Christine loves that Talia is so calm and says, “She has such soft intentions with me. She is the perfect balance to everything I am. She makes me a better person.”
They decided to get married about four years into their relationship. The proposal came during a romantic bike ride to the beach near where they live. They immediately called friends and family to share their exciting news. They knew they wanted to be together forever.
One of the first things they did as a married couple was purchase a house. The house needed a lot of work before it would feel like a home. But after countless hours remodeling and renovating, the house finally felt like home. They even had one room they were hoping to turn into a child’s nursery. “The decision to have a baby was always in the plan for us,” says Christine, “we knew we both wanted to be mothers and create a family together.”
Being in a same-sex relationship has brought some unique challenges. When they told their family and friends about their plans to start a family, they were initially concerned. But Christine and Talia found tremendous support from their families.
“They are so encouraging of our relationship and excited for our journey to become mothers,” comments Christine. With the help of those who loved them, they decided they were ready.
They needed a sperm donor and started their search online. They knew they wanted their ideal sperm donor to have a good health history. Having a healthy donor was their top criteria. Several sperm banks were online but one in particular stood out for their thorough selection process. Fairfax Cryobank had the reputation for doing more genetic and infectious disease testing than any other sperm bank. “There was a quality you could not find with any other sperm bank,” says Christine. “That is what drew us to Fairfax.” (For clients in the UK, Fairfax Cryobank has a website that shows only the UK compliant donors: www.fairfaxcryobank.co.uk )
The online donor search was an easy way to look through all the donor options. “When choosing a donor you can get as specific as you want to,” says Talia. They used selection tools like height, eye colour, hair colour and skin tone to help narrow their search. They could listen to free audio clips of the donor and read about the staff impression of the donor’s personality and appearance. “You get to know the person,” says Christine.
Many of the donors have adult photo sets available. Only Fairfax offers the option to upload a photo of someone they want the donor to resemble, called Fairfax FaceMatch ™, and present the donors that are most similar.
Christine and Talia made a donor choice, ordered the vials and started their journey. They have spoken publically about their plans to have a family in the hopes of helping other couples who might feel alone or worried about having children in a same-sex relationship. They created a YouTube channel – We Wanna Be Mommies — and have shared the highs and lows of their journey. It has been an exciting ride, sometimes stressful and sometimes disappointing.
And ultimately it has been joyful. Talia is now pregnant and expecting in early 2016.
“The decision to have a baby was always in the plan for us, we knew we both wanted to be mothers and create a
family together”