Retail expert Mary Portas opened up about her brother being a sperm donor for her son Horatio in an emotional interview on Jamie Laing’s podcast
Mary Portas has opened up about her family arrangement and revealed that her brother Lawrence is the biological father of her son. The retail guru fought back tears as she spoke to Jamie Laing on his Great Company podcast.
Mary, 65, humorously clarified that her brother didn’t sleep with her now ex-wife Melanie Rickey, but expressed her desire to “have a bloodline” when Mel suggested starting a family.
“So, Mel decided she wanted a child, and I was very clear that I wanted to have a bloodline,” said Mary, who is also mum to twins Mylo and Verity from her first marriage to Graham Portas.
“I wanted, if I was going to have another child, I wanted to make sure that it was related in some way and biologically related to my other kids.”
She explained that due to the “particular bond” she shares with her younger brother Lawrence, and knowing he “didn’t particularly want to have children”, she asked him to be her sperm donor.
“He looked after me,” she said. “It was a real symbiosis. And Lawrence turned up to the old donor place and said, ‘Done it, sis!'”.
Mary also mentioned that her son Horatio, who was carried by Mel and born in 2012, is the spitting image of her side of the family. “Lawrence lives abroad now, but he rings us regularly and they talk about football,” she added. “God, it’s so boring!”
Mary became emotional as she recalled the moment Lawrence held Horatio for the first time. “The most beautiful time is when, you know… he came into the world and I rang Lawrence and Lawrence turned up and picked him up,” she said. “And it was like, it was his gift to me. God, I get emotional. It was his gift. And it was the greatest gift.”
“Why the greatest gift?” Jamie asked. “Oh my God, you know, like because of the years that we helped each other,” she said. “You know, I was always his big sis,and then he was able to give me this gift.
“Social media users were quick to share their thoughts on Mary’s unique family situation. One commenter posted: “That is still quite a weird family setup. Is it his uncle or his dad?”
“I consider myself open minded but that is very strange,” another pondered. “I’m confused and can’t get my head around this,” a third admitted.
However, some defended the unconventional arrangement. “I would have 100% put this option on the table if my ex and I had got this far,” one person shared. “I wanted to be genetically related to the baby that she would carry from her egg. I think it’s beautiful that her and her brother have that relationship.”
“For all the people saying this is weird or odd, I am donor conceived and in my community this is actually considered to be the most ethical way of having a donor conceived child,” another argued.
“They will always know the donor, they will know how many siblings they have, they will know his medical history and the non genetic mother will have a genetic connection to her own child (as the genetic aunt).
“What a beautiful gift to give to your sister,” a third praised.
The Mary Queen Of Shops star and Melanie Rickey separated after 17 years together and have already sold their shared £5milion north London mansion. Fashion writer Melanie gave birth to the couple’s son Horatio – using Mary’s brother Lawrence’s sperm – six years ago, and the pair converted their civil partnership to a full marriage in 2014.
In a statement explaining their split, the exes insisted there was no third-party involvement. “After 17 years together we have decided to separate. There is no one else involved,” they said. “We have spent the last year consciously managing our separation in as good-heartedly, open, and mature a way as possible to ensure a smooth, amicable evolution for us.
“We remain a family, and are committed co-parents to three wonderful humans (plus Walter the dog!) who are our priority. We remain good friends, and will share much together going forward.”
A friend of the couple added to the Sun at the time: “In the end they decided they were better off as wonderful friends.”
Mary started dating Melanie in 2003. She was previously married to Graham Portas, the father of her two adult children. Their 13-year marriage came to an end that same year. The TV presenter and former government adviser spoke about discovering her true sexuality when falling for her future wife.
“It wasn’t a case of, ‘Ooh, I’ve been thinking about Linda Evangelista.’ So in one way, it was just about Melanie. But there was a sexual attraction. I do love women. What surprised me after was that so many women are fluid in this way. I’d meet them and they’d say, ‘I was married, now I’m with a woman’,” she added.
Source: Mirror
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