Coming out can be pretty hard can't it? I remember it very
well. It was 13 years ago but it is crystal clear in my memory
banks. My mum's reaction was absolutely great. She couldn't have
cared less. In fact, she now said she had one of each, a girl, a
boy and lesbian. My mum then went on to break the news to my dad.
She sat him down and told him she had something to tell him about
me.
He thought for a moment and said "well she is either pregnant or a
lesbian, which one is it?". When my mum told him I wasn't pregnant
he said "thank god for that!" and carried on just relieved he
wasn't going to be a grandfather again.
So you can imagine my trepidation when several years later I did
decide I wanted to be a mother. Should I tell my dad I was planning
it or just wait until it happened? Getting pregnant could take
months! I decided to go with the latter. My plan backfired
completely. I genuinely believed I would have months to bring him
round to the idea. But of course, I got pregnant first
time.
I sat him down to break the news. He knew instinctively that
something was coming and looked at me quizzically. "You're
not coming out as straight are you?" he asked. "No dad, not that
bad, but I am pregnant," I said. "How?" was his one and only
reply. I was floored. Would I really have to explain to him that I
had taken a train to meet a man I'd met online, collected a pot of
sperm and went home to make friends with a turkey baster? Well, it
was a syringe, but you get the cliche. I told him to think about
the question for a minute and consider if he really wanted an
answer. He soon went very red and headed towards the whiskey.
Luckily he got over himself pretty quickly. And 9 months later
held his grandson (grandchild number 6 I may add, so he is no
stranger to it) and that was it. When I told him I was
pregnant again 18 months later he was much more relaxed about the
whole thing. Thankfully he didn't ask" how" this time as it
involved my wife driving an 80 mile round trip to collect from our
donor, and drive back with a pot of sperm in her cleavage.
