MIRACLE: Same-sex couple welcomes baby for the New Year

There were four babies born to joyful parents at Mt Hope Women’s Hospital yesterday, but remarkable was the birth of baby Miracle, born to same-sex parents Shackiba St Louis and Lisa Melville.

It was a new beginning in a new year for the couple

St Louis gave birth at 6.03 am to her baby girl who was almost a month premature. She weighed five pounds, three ounces, but was in good health. Melville said their daughter was indeed a miracle after the way she was conceived. They have been a couple for two years and decided to add to their family.

“We got a donor who is a friend and is also gay. We got the specimen, I went on YouTube, found out how to do it...I sterilised everything and inserted it. We did everything ourselves, and it happened the first time. When I found out that Shackiba was pregnant, I said, ‘you are having a girl.’ The baby shower was on Saturday and she went into labour on Sunday.”

Melville said the baby’s sperm donor will always be a part of their lives and will be in contact with their daughter.

“He is part of our side and he helped us.”

Danray Durham gave birth to a baby girl, Emanuela, the first baby to make her way into the world on New Year’s at 12.26 am. Durham said she was happy she had a girl because there were lots of brothers and brothers-in-law in her family, so girls were making themselves present.

Durham and her husband Ricardo live in El Dorado.

Nicola James gave birth to her third boy, who is yet to be named, at 5.42 am. Patricia Rosals had a baby girl at 12.49 am.

Acting Chief of Staff Prof Bharat Bassaw praised the institution for great service and protecting the lives of mothers and babies.

He said there were recent incidents where the lives of would-be mothers were in jeopardy, but because of alert and hard-working staff, they were saved.