
I'm scared my lesbian relationship will mean I can't afford a baby
But since realising she was bi two years ago, and then falling in love with a woman, it's dawned on her that the family she so desperately wants to have may be a bit more out of reach.
'I've realised the future family I've always imagined might not be as straightforward as I once thought,' she says. 'My reality has changed, procedures like IUI and IVF cost a lot more than conceiving naturally.
'Funding it is really overwhelming.'
This was the dilemma of this week's caller on Metro's Just Between Us podcast, which explores every aspect of sex and relationships.
Cassidy wanted advice on how to navigate this and there was one thing that immediately sprang to mind for me: Access Fertility.
It's an organisation that offers up to 100% refunds for eligible women below 38, or partial refunds for those aged 38 to 40, who have an unsuccessful round or package of IVF.
Now, this obviously doesn't make the initial financial burden of IVF any easier to afford, but what it does do is make it easier to continue on your IVF journey if your first rounds of IVF are unsuccessful, because you only pay if you end up with your baby.
With thousands of members from all over the world, our vibrant LGBTQ+ WhatsApp channel is a hub for all the latest news and important issues that face the LGBTQ+ community.
Simply click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! Don't forget to turn on notifications!
If it sounds too good to be true, then you only have to look at the experience of Rosie Comb-Clark and her husband Paul, who at 38, had only a 19% chance of getting pregnant.
They didn't want to wait a year to get NHS funded treatment so they found Access Fertility, which offered them a 50% refund if their IVF wasn't successful (due to Rosie's age).
The different packages offered currently range anywhere from £6,000 to £25,000, and for Rosie and Paul they paid £11,950 for multiple cycles. When they were sadly unsuccessful they were refunded £5,975, which they reinvested into more treatment and ultimately led to them being able to conceive their baby girl, Esther.
The programme has a 90% acceptance rate, and has refunded more than £17 million to date to couples trying to conceive.
It's something that has brought great comfort to me as a woman with endometriosis. Since conception may not look 'traditional' for me either, I've long since been concerned by the idea I could be priced out of motherhood.
At the same time, I acknowledge my privilege as a straight white woman, and I know that accessing NHS care may be easier for me than it will for members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
But it wasn't just the money that Cassidy had to think about. 'I've realised we could both carry the baby, which was strange because I'd always imagined this relationship where I'd be with a man, and I would be the only person who could carry that child,' she says.
'I need to know if she's willing to let me do that if that's what I want, or if I need to be open to the idea of her doing it… we're still in the middle of this big conversation.'
While this is something that could only ever be solved with open and honest communication – as well as compromises where needed – we raised the partial solution of reciprocal IVF.
Reciprocal IVF (also known as 'shared motherhood' or 'shared parenthood') is where eggs are collected from one partner in a same-sex female or other LGBTQIA+ couple and fertilised with donor sperm.
The resulting embryo is then transferred into the other partner's womb, who carries the baby and gives birth, according to HFEA, the UK's fertility regulator.
This would allow both Cassidy and her partner to have a biological connection to their baby, if that's why they both want to carry.
However, if they feel that they want the experience of carrying a child, if they're financially able, it may be worth considering trying for two children and carrying one each.
There are so many experiences that mean the experience of having a family may not look as we thought it would. More Trending
Diana speaks about being single in her thirties and questions she has about her future, too.
'I'm 34 and it's not old, but I don't have a partner and I'm very career driven. However, I do want babies,' she explains. 'Sometimes I wonder if it's going to be easy or hard for me?'
View More »
We talk all this and more on the latest episode of Just Between Us – and whether you're looking to hear about options, or just want to know someone is in the same boat as you – it's worth a listen.
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
MORE: Pregnant Katherine Ryan 'dejected' at the thought of her baby being a boy
MORE: 'I'm flying them abroad while I work': How parents are entertaining kids this summer
MORE: A mum apologised for her toddler – it broke my heart

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Independent
17 minutes ago
- The Independent
Medics issue patient safety warning over union's approach to strikes
Top medics have urged the British Medical Association (BMA) to suspend its guidance advising doctors not to disclose strike plans to employers. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges said that withholding this information risks patient safety as it makes it extremely difficult for health service leaders to maintain adequate patient care. Resident doctors are set to begin a five-day strike on Friday after pay talks with the government broke down, with the BMA seeking a 29 per cent pay rise. Hospital leaders anticipate having to cancel some operations and appointments, despite NHS England 's mandate to continue routine care, with one A&E in Cheltenham considering reducing services. The health secretary, Wes Streeting, described the strike action as 'completely unjustified', while the BMA argues the government's pay offer is insufficient.


Telegraph
17 minutes ago
- Telegraph
NHS investigation ‘bent the rules' in favour of trans doctor
The NHS investigation into a nurse who complained about a transgender doctor using a female hospital changing room repeatedly 'bent' impartiality rules, an employment tribunal has heard. Naomi Cunningham KC, barrister for nurse Sandie Peggie, said there was a 'pattern' of 'rules being bent and the usual boundaries transgressed' to favour trans medic Dr Beth Upton. She challenged Dr Kate Searle, an emergency medicine consultant at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, that the 'usual rules don't apply when dealing with Dr Upton, do they?'. Dr Searle disagreed but Ms Cunningham pointed to an email she sent to Dr Upton, passing on a message of support from Jamie Doyle, the hospital's head of nursing. The barrister said Mr Doyle was involved in the investigation and 'shouldn't it have been obvious to both you and Jamie that that was a wholly improper message from him.' Dr Searle replied: 'In hindsight, yes.' Ms Cunningham highlighted that Dr Searle was allowed to be present during Dr Upton's interview for the investigation, despite also being a witness in the case. She read an email from Angela Glancey, a clinical nurse manager, in which it was stated that Dr Searle would be interviewed first as 'that way there's no conflict once we speak to Dr Upton'. Dr Searle replied that she did not know the rules but Ms Cunningham said: 'Once again, this is a situation where we see rules being bent and the usual boundaries transgressed for Dr Upton. That's what you want and Angela indulges you.' She disagreed but then admitted she had committed a 'flagrant breach' of an instruction not to discuss the case with others, by speaking with another witness. The tribunal had previously heard how Dr Searle had emailed 19 of the hospital's consultants shortly after the incident to state that Dr Upton 'knows we all support her, and that we condemn the actions of Sandie'. The row centres on an encounter between Ms Peggie and Dr Upton on Dec 24 2023. The nurse experienced a sudden and heavy period and feared that it had bled through to her scrubs. Ms Peggie entered the female hospital changing room to find Dr Upton and challenged the medic's presence. Within hours, a bullying complaint was lodged by Dr Upton and the nurse was then suspended. In May last year Ms Peggie submitted a formal claim to an employment tribunal against NHS Fife and Dr Upton for sexual harassment, belief discrimination and victimisation. The nurse complained of being required to share a single-sex space with someone she believed to be male and being victimised for holding a gender-critical belief that biological sex is immutable. It emerged last week that Ms Peggie had been cleared of gross misconduct by an NHS Fife disciplinary hearing. However, the employment tribunal continues. Dr Searle spoke with Dr Upton on the night of the changing room incident and helped the medic fill out an official report into the matter. 'Flagrant breach' After Dr Searle was questioned about her email to the other consultants, and being present at Dr Upton's interview, Ms Cunningham said: 'Usual boundaries (are) transgressed because it's Doctor Upton, because it's about Doctor Upton. That's right, isn't it? This is becoming a pattern, isn't it?' Dr Searle disagreed but Ms Cunningham highlighted her invitation to an investigation meeting that stated 'you should avoid discussing the case with anyone other than your representative to ensure your confidentiality and that of the other parties involved'. The doctor said she had taken that instruction 'seriously' but she said she had not told Ms Glancey about her email to the other consultants, or passing on good wishes from Mr Doyle to Dr Upton. Ms Cunningham highlighted that Dr Searle had also spoken with the only third-party witness who could substantiate a claim that Ms Peggie had refused to communicate with Dr Upton over a patient. The barrister said the conversation was a 'flagrant breach' of the warning not to discuss the case with others. Dr Searle replied: 'In hindsight now, yes.' The doctor also agreed that a large man in men's clothes should not be allowed to use the female changing room if he self-identified as a woman. But she denied that Dr Upton was 'obviously male', saying she would not have known what sex the medic was 'assigned at birth' unless she had been told. The tribunal continues.


BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
NHS consultant spoke to trans row witness despite warnings
An NHS consultant has admitted that she spoke to a potential witness despite being warned not to do so during an investigation into an altercation between a transgender doctor and a nurse.A healthcare assistant was alleged to have witnessed a separate incident involving nurse Sandie Peggie and Dr Beth Upton, days before they were involved in an encounter in a changing room at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy on Christmas Eve questioning from Ms Peggie's lawyer at a tribunal, Dr Kate Searle admitted that talking to the witness had been a "flagrant breach" of previous warnings not to discuss the she denied claims that she "left confidentiality in ruins" with her actions. Ms Peggie was suspended from work with NHS Fife after she told Dr Upton - a trans woman - not to be in the women's changing rooms. Dr Searle, who was Dr Upton's line manager, became involved with the case on 29 December and helped file a report on the NHS's datex complaints this period Dr Upton also accused Ms Peggie of walking out on treating a patient earlier in December due to the junior doctor's Searle later spoke to a healthcare assistant who was alleged to have witnessed this incident. However, the woman could not remember details of a conversation between Ms Peggie and Dr Upton. Dr Searle said she could not recall whether she had this conversation before or after Angela Glancy - a senior charge nurse involved in the investigation - had spoken to the Peggie's lawyer Naomi Cunningham said if Dr Searle had spoken to the witness before investigators it would be "grossly improper" added: "What possible business did you have making contact with the witness, who was a witness to a live investigation or pending employment tribunal proceedings?"Dr Searle replied "no business".The consultant said she "probably" spoke to the healthcare assistant after Dr Glancy had done so, but could not be sure as "times have blurred into one" during the later admitted that speaking to the witness was a "flagrant breach" of previous warnings not to discuss the case. Dr Searle became emotional after Ms Cunningham named the healthcare worker, saying that the person involved was desperate to avoid any media had to leave the stand at that point, which Ms Cunningham later dubbed "an outburst". The lawyer suggested the emotion was not to do with any concern for the healthcare assistant but out of "a desire to protect yourself."Dr Searle denied this, and NHS Fife's lawyer Jane Russell said Ms Cunningham's questions on the matter "left a little to be desired". Timeline of the Sandie Peggie tribunal Giving evidence for a second day, Dr Searle was again quizzed regarding emails exchanged between senior staff in the aftermath of the Christmas Eve Cunningham focused on one message said to mention avoiding "foot in mouth syndrome" and that not all messages had been provided to the added Dr Searle's search for emails related to the case had either been "surprisingly incompetent or deliberately withholding" the Searle said she rejected the latter Cunningham accused Dr Searle of "turning up the emotional heat" with how she reported the incident in the replied that she had reported the incident as she saw it, with a junior doctor upset about something that had happened at Searle had told the tribunal on Tuesday she considered reporting the matter to Police Scotland as it could be considered a hate Cunningham asked Dr Searle if she would have recognised Dr Upton as trans if she had not been told, and claimed the junior doctor was "obviously male".The lawyer added that the Christmas Eve incident could have been resolved by Dr Upton leaving the changing room, rather than telling Ms Peggie to speak to management about Searle said she disagreed this would have been a suitable way to end the tribunal continues.