The Courier's afternoon at The Familymakers Show: talking sapphism, solidarity, and sperm

Every succeeding generation of LGBTQIA+ people has been forced to fight for the right to have, and love, their own children. Between the 1970s and 1990s, as many as 30 children were taken away from their mothers solely because British judges couldn't stomach the idea of Lesbian parents. In 2007, London Women's Clinic (LWC) took an important step forward - they offered fertility seminars to LGBTQ+ couples for the first time. 19 years later, that tradition continues at The Familymakers Show, which The Courier had the pleasure of attending.

Familymakers is a collaborative effort between veritable pioneers in the normalisation of Queer parenting. By the sunny Quayside, groundbreaking advancements by London Women's Clinic, London Sperm Bank, and others combined with the LGBTQ+ storytelling powerhouses at DIVA magazine to put on a deeply moving, and critically important event.

The event began with a keynote speech from DIVA's Linda Riley and Kate Osborne MP - Queer British royalty in my books. Both women shared experiences from decades of activism and stories of lesbian motherhood, with each of them stating proudly that their children don't feel the need to explain themselves, or their families to anyone. Queer homes can be as loving, kind, and safe for children as any - a vitally important statement in the face of creeping attacks on LGBTQ+ families in the US and Europe.

Obstacles and prejudice have so often defined healthcare for LGBTQ+ people; to this day, Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual people aged 25-34 experience the greatest relative inequality in mortality in the UK. It isn't solely Queer individuals who are impacted by these failures in the healthcare system either, but their families too.

Fizz Milton, one of the speakers at Familymakers, remembers that during a medical incident with her son, an NHS call handler remarked "how odd" at the idea of her two-mum family. "I was in the middle of thinking my child was dying," Milton tells me, and yet those who were meant to be helping him seemed more concerned at the idea of a Lesbian parent.

Such structural disparities in care faced by Queer people are a particular ever-present in reproductive health, something that LWC are keen to tackle. Jemma Garratt, Data Scientist and Communications Lead summed up the mission of Familymakers best, saying that becoming a Queer parent "shouldn't feel like a struggle, it shouldn't feel like there's barriers".

Jemma's vision for London Women's Clinic had played out right in front of me about an hour before our conversation. During a talk on London Women's Clinic 'Kind iVF' - led by Dr Arthi Thangavel and Ms. Garratt herself - a couple off to my left let out a sigh of relief and hugged upon hearing of the procedure's success rate: up to 45-48% same-sex couples under-37 achieve a live birth with LWC iVF. Their embrace carried with it a story, a Queer, Newcastle couple emboldened with the hope of starting their family.

Ms. Garratt, an accomplished data analyst with a master's from Oxford in her back pocket, is particularly excited about LWC's expansion Northwards. "If you're a Queer person in the North, you should have the exact same accessibility as a Queer person in the South." Breaking down inequality, after all, requires an intersectional approach that is - in Garratt's words - "inclusive of the North".

Two new LWC facilities in York and Newcastle respectively are set to join an existing clinic in Darlington in 2026.

The 'Darlo' facility alone has shaped the lives of thousands; 5000 people have been born because of it. One Queer couple have brought 3 children into the world through Reciprocal iVF - where one person's egg is fertilised in-vitro and transferred to their partner's uterus - at LWC Darlington. With Familymakers and the London Women's Clinic taking to Newcastle, yet more Queer Northern success stories are bound to be written.

I am the son of four proud Queer parents. 2 Gay men, and 2 women - one Lesbian, one Bisexual - have built me a home. That home is 'different'; a threat to heteronormative society. Ridicule, invasive questions, and intolerance have followed me - not to mention my parents - for my whole life. Yet, here I found myself surrounded for the first time by people who wanted to create families like mine. I arrived at Familymakers seeking this article, but left having found community.

During the famous 'Inseminar', and in possibly the most profound shock of my life, Familymakers taught me how I was born - not your average experience in journalism, I can assure you. I had just arrived at The Broad Chare Theatre on Quayside, the home of Jaquie Lawrence and Fizz Milton's Queer comedy Shuggy Boats, and taken my seat. Fizz, a "proud lesbian mum" was delivering a talk on her experience parenting twins through IUI (Intrauterine Insemination), and as she spoke, more and more bells started ringing in my head.

It's not something I have ever particularly discussed with my parents, so I had always said "iVF" when people - some ruder than others - asked about the circumstances of my birth. It felt easier, safer, but always untrue. I learnt at Familymakers that I am an IUI baby, and a proud one at that. Fizz told me that she wanted to "give back" to her community through her words and stories; I didn't expect that this might include me.

Visibility is a powerful word, and one that every LGBTQIA+ person understands in their own way. Polari-speaking "omi-palones" in 1950s London, the work of the Terrence Higgins Trust to destigmatise HIV/AIDS, Lesbian identity forged against the fences of Greenham Common; British history is dense with stories of Queer resistance. Familymakers is an event that shows us both how far we've come, and the beauty of what we must fight to protect. I loved every minute.