Big Dreams, Big Pride: What Do You Want Your Rainbow Family To Look Like?
Image: Adobe Stock (L) & Pexels (R)
With the city awash in colour and pride dialled all the way up, Sydney Mardi Gras is the season of big feelings and even bigger dreams. And for some in the crowd, the celebration comes with a new kind of excitement: the possibility of little ones joining their future family.
LGBTQIA+ parents often need to navigate extra steps, including donor eggs, donor sperm, surrogacy, counselling and legal considerations. But to one fertility specialist, this complexity speaks to something beautiful. 鈥淚t takes a village, not only to raise the child, but sometimes to make a child. They鈥檙e created all from a place of love.鈥�
Dr Shadi Khashaba, fertility specialist at IVFAustralia, 聽encourages couples to begin by talking honestly with each other: What do you want your family to look like? How will you share the experience? How do you want to parent together?
And above all; take it slowly.
鈥淭ake it one step at a time,鈥� he advises. Trying to control every moving part and lining up every piece of the puzzle at the same time 鈥� donors, embryos, surrogates, appointments 鈥� 鈥渃an feel overwhelming.鈥澛�
Slow and steady, he adds, 鈥渁lways wins the race.鈥�
A doctor who has lived the journey
What sets Shadi apart is that he doesn鈥檛 just support queer families: he is a member of one.
He and his partner John are proud dads of two children, born with the help of an egg donor and a close friend who carried both pregnancies. 鈥淪he鈥檚 an angel,鈥� he smiles.
Going through the process himself transformed the way he practices. He truly understands how his patients feel, how many moments are filled with both hope and fear. 鈥淚 know the emotions that can go through the fertility journey, where nothing is 100% [certain]鈥� You have to have trust and faith in the process and the people around you.鈥�
And then comes the moment everything shifts: holding your child for the first time. Shadi describes it as a beautiful wave of emotions: 鈥淚t鈥檚 suddenly like, 鈥極h, it鈥檚 real!鈥欌��
IVF: 鈥業f there鈥檚 a will, there is a way鈥�
Shadi says society has come a long way in recognising LGBTQIA+ families, but he understands that for many queer people, the idea of approaching a fertility clinic still feels intimidating.
His advice is simple: you don鈥檛 have to know everything before you walk in the door.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 better to get information through a fertility specialist than Googling and getting lost with misinformation,鈥� he says. And if you鈥檙e doing this with a partner, come together 鈥� you鈥檙e a team from day one.
For every queer person quietly wondering if parenthood is possible for them, Shadi offers a gentle but firm reassurance: 鈥淚t is doable, just have a chat with a fertility specialist. If there鈥檚 a will, there is a way.鈥�
To learn more or to start your journey of creating a family, visit IVFAustralia at 聽or call 1800 111 483.
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