We want to advise, educate, share, and celebrate LGBT families
My name is Laura-Rose Thorogood and I'm a 32-year-old married lesbian mother of two. I'm also founder of The LGBT Mummies Tribe!
Married for 11 years, my wife and I had private IUI treatment through The Centre for Reproductive and Genetic Health, Great Portland Street, London to have our children, Dottie, who is now 4½ (my wife carried her) and Stanley who is 8 months (I carried him).
We used the same, private unknown donor through a US-based clinic for both of our children, and it took us five cycles (and one miscarriage) to have Dottie, and two cycles to fall pregnant with Stanley. All together, we have spent in excess of £25k to have our two children.
The LGBT Mummies Tribe was an idea I came up with a little while ago after I found I was being regularly contacted by lesbian singles or couples through social media, as well as friends who knew about our journey to becoming mothers, and who wanted advice regarding costs, clinics, and more.
After several years, I asked “Why doesn't this exist as a community or business, where we could really help others who are LGBT and who want to start a family?”
After searching the internet, I found a real lack of advice for LGBT couples. Although charity organisation Stonewall offers some advice, and there were the odd social pages aimed at same-sex parents, there wasn’t one that advised LGBT couples on actually having babies, the treatments available, and ways to reduce costs, and all of the other questions we had when we were trying!
That's when I decided to set up The LGBT Mummies Tribe as an Instagram page to, “advise, educate, share, and celebrate” LGBT families (however they choose to have children) as well as offering tips and advice on clinics, sperm banks, treatments, costs and everything else.
On top of that, a big part of setting up the page was to provide a safe haven for families to connect with each other on their journey to motherhood, as well as those who already had children.
In less than six months, we've gained over 4000 followers worldwide —​ all LGBT Mums, LGBT businesses, or allies! It’s an amazing feeling to have already made a difference by bringing together a community of women who can support each other.
Often we have women reaching out asking us to post something they feel they cannot ask, or those that need someone to speak to after a traumatic time, whether it be miscarriage or infant loss, trouble conceiving, or parenting questions —​ they feel they can reach out and talk to us and we're more than happy to listen and try to help as much as we're able to as a social platform.
Our plan now is to grow the community as a business, build our own website, hold more family meets, fertility related events, and a Family Pride for our followers. Watch this space!
The LGBT Mummies Tribe are holding a meet taking place on Sunday 23 September 2018 from 12pm-3pm. Visit @the_lgbt_mummies_tribe for location details, or email [email protected].
Only reading DIVA online? You're missing out. For more news, reviews and commentary, check out the latest issue. It's pretty badass, if we do say so ourselves.
divadigital.co.uk // divadirect.co.uk // divasub.co.uk