Gay south African Cypriot couple have triplets because of Pistorius case

A gay South African Cypriot and his partner have had triplets using a surrogate and could be the first homosexual couple in the world to do so, according to Sky News.

DNA from both Christo Menelaou and his partner Theo were used in the procedure, and it might never have come about except for the Oscar Pistorius case.

Sky reported that the two men were neighbours of the former Paralympian sentenced earlier this year for the murder of his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day in 2013.

Christo and Theo were attending the trial in Pretoria when they met the person who was to become their surrogate after a group of neighbours got together to discuss the proceedings, Sky said.

the couple met the woman who would become a surrogate mother for the couple at the Oscar Pistorius trial
the couple met the woman who would become a surrogate mother for the couple at the Oscar Pistorius trial

The couple brought home their two girls and a boy – the girls are identical twins – after three weeks in hospital as they had been born prematurely at 31 weeks on July 2.

In an interview with Sky, the couple said they never thought they could be parents.

“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,” said Christo.

“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.”

They found their surrogate, a mother of three, whom they met during the trial and she agreed. The arrangement was made legally and no money was to be exchanged other than for expenses, the report said. They had been aiming for twins but one of the embryos split, forming the twins in addition to the other embryo, a boy.

Dr Heidra Dahms, the gynaecologist at Sunninghill Hospital who delivered the babies, told Sky News: “It is extremely rare. I have never heard of this before.”

Because the babies were premature, one of the twins still needs surgery on a heart defect which must be carried out within six months.  Each baby is still fitted with a monitor which sounds an alarm when the baby stops breathing, Sky said, and two nurses help to care for them.

 

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