IVF egg-swap babies 'IT WAS THE BEST DECISION!'

In a bid for a deeper connection, the loving couple carried each other's baby and sometimes feed the other one's bub too!

-  Kasia De-Vydt Jillings

Talking to the Weekly about their beautiful boys, Leah Kerr and Melanie Arthur are in many ways like most new parents – completely in love with each other and their sons Alfie and Charlie, and exhausted from caring for the five-month-old babies around the clock.

But the soon-to-bemarried mothers are also in a unique position to understand almost exactly what the other is going through after using IVF last year to fall pregnant with each other’s egg and the same sperm donor.

“They both feel biologically mine,” shares Melanie, 40. “I know science would argue that, but they get a lot of you when they’re in your womb and they really both feel equally like my babies, which is why we swapped eggs.”

When the Nelson couple first shared their story with us in September 2023, they were excitedly awaiting the birth of their boys. But with their due dates so close to each other (just six days apart), Leah and Melanie were a little nervous they could possibly go into labour at the same time or miss each other’s births.

While this didn’t eventuate, the pair share there were still plenty of unexpected events. Leah, 37, shares her story first.

“I was induced at 37 weeks and six days. We found out from a scan Alfie wasn’t growing, and I had high blood pressure and was suspected to have preeclampsia, so it was safer to get him out.”

Pre-eclampsia is a dangerous pregnancy condition, often associated with high blood pressure and restricted growth for babies in utero. Left untreated, it can cause organ damage and be fatal for both mother and baby.