A Made In Chelsea star has opened up on the reality of becoming a parent through IVF.
Fan-favourite Ollie Locke and his husband Gareth have been trying to become parents and in the last year have had two rounds of IVF, both of which have been unsuccessful.
The 35-year-old, who has been a household name since 2011 for many, has been sharing the process on-screen and with his social media following. Ollie told the ECHO it would be an “injustice” not to do so.
READ MORE: Wanted man being hunted after being released from jail
He said: “When I signed up to do Made in Chelsea, I never imagined 12 years ago we would be putting infertility on the line but it’s something we put our lives into and we thought it was incredibly important to go with the reality of this journey. I get messages hourly from people that are going through their own struggles. To be able to be in a position to go through that with others, to know that other people are there, holding your hand through it, giving them some sort of hope that hopefully, it will all work out fine, it really is like forming a community - an important community.”
Growing up, being a parent is something which Ollie never pictured himself doing - not because he didn’t want to have his own family but rather because society was telling him it was something he couldn’t have because of his sexuality.
He added: “I grew up in the 80s and 90s being told that you weren’t allowed to be a gay parent. I went to my best friend’s wedding as the fun uncle, the one who is always invited to dinner parties and drinks too much wine. That’s kind of where I thought my life was going. Suddenly, I had to rethink things and realise that I actually could be a father. Luckily, I met someone that I fell in love with and I knew it would be a wild mistake not to try and have babies.”
Now, Ollie and his husband, whose wedding was watched by 3.5 million people on TV, are preparing to go for their 4th round of IVF - something which he said has not only been very expensive but emotionally draining.
He said: “It’s been the hardest part of my life so far. It has cost hundreds of thousands of pounds so far to try and get there. Emotionally, it’s absolutely horrendous. What people see on TV is a certain scene but we go home and sit in bed like any other normal couple and we talk about it and try to find out what's going wrong. We make 1000s of phone calls to doctors all around the world and if I'm completely honest, I’ve been numb for the last two years and it’s incredibly exhausting.”
As a result of his own experience, the TV personality is currently lobbying for legal change to make it easier for same-sex couples to have a family.
He told ECHO: “Laws need to be reviewed. Right now in Britain, there are rules, theoretically, that if the surrogate wants to keep the baby they can and to me, that seems very odd because biologically it isn’t theirs. America has an incredible process where they have a contract and the surrogate gets paid.”
Throughout the whole journey, Ollie has found writing “therapeutic”. The reality TV star has released his second children’s book - The Faraway Adventures of Henry Bogget: Henry and the Big White Whale - about a young boy who discovers the magic behind the blue plaques dotted around London.
Ollie added: “Writing children’s books, including my first bestseller is hugely therapeutic as we go through this journey. I love hearing from parents about how their little ones were captivated by the stories and kept asking for one more page at bedtime.”
Receive our weekly LGBTQIA+ newsletter by signing up here.
READ NEXT:
- Woman returned from Spain holiday to find 'urgent letters' on doorstep
- Audience members evacuated from M&S Bank arena after one song
- Woman hid more than £1,000 of crack inside her body
- The big Liverpool projects that could be rubber stamped this week
- 'I ditched dating apps like Tinder for a single's night and got more than I expected'
