A mum is raising her premature twins alone after conceiving with sperm from a stranger she met on Facebook.
Sarah Mangat, 34, had been single for nearly eight years when she decided to embark on solo motherhood in July 2020.
She had planned to use a sperm bank but found the process ‘’too impersonal’’ so instead found a Facebook group for sperm donors.
After hitting it off with someone, Sarah underwent 14 months of fertility tests at Victory Reproductive Health Fertility Clinic, Ontario, Canada, where they medically monitored her cycle.
When the time was right, she used the stranger’s sperm and was shocked to discover she had not only fallen pregnant on the first go but was expecting twins.
Despite her joy, she had a difficult pregnancy and was told her short cervix could cause premature birth or miscarriage.
Doctors performed a cervical stitch to stop it opening too soon, but the procedure failed after two weeks, and Sarah went into premature labour in April 2022.
Her daughters, one-year-old Elora and Addison, arrived at 27-weeks on 30 April 2022 at Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
Elora was born at 6.38pm weighing 2lb 20z and Addison arrived shortly after at 6.42pm weighing 1lb 9oz.
The pair suffered a catalogue of health issues including a bleed on the brain, heart defects, jaundice, and infections.
Despite the odds stacked against them, Elora spent 70 days in hospital and Addison was in for 79 days, until they were all able to go home.
Sarah, an HR business partner, from Toronto, Canada, said: “I had tried every dating app under the sun and wasn’t meeting someone.
“You can’t wait forever for the right person to come into your life.
“If you’re thinking about doing it alone, I say do it.
“It’s the best decision I ever made.
“I nearly had a heart attack when they told me there was two.
“But I can’t imagine my life without my daughters.”
Sarah, who had been single for nearly eight years, was never sure about having children.
But one morning, in July 2020, she woke-up with the desire to have a baby.
She said: “I enjoyed being selfish and not being responsible for someone else.
“But that day I woke up and thought, ‘I want to have a baby now.’
“It was so strange – like a flick switched and I was ready.”
Without a partner, Sarah decided to do the process solo and opted for a sperm donor.
But she found the sperm banks ‘’too clinical’’ and began exploring other options.
After researching online, Sarah found a Facebook group called ‘Canadian Sperm Donors’.
“At the sperm bank, you can only meet them when your child turns 18,” she said.
“But I wanted to know the person before that.
“I was already becoming a mum unconventionally – why not find the donor myself.”
Sarah spoke with a few people on the Facebook page and eventually found one she ‘clicked’ with.
In February 2021, she met him in person, and he agreed to undergo STI checks and genetic tests and be her sperm donor.
She said: “Of course, I was a bit wary of meeting someone from online.
“I had a few weird messages.
“But made sure we I met up in a public place and we got on really well.
“I knew he was the one to be my donor.
“We actually became quite good friends because we stuck with me through all my fertility issues.”
Sarah also joined Victory Reproductive Health Fertility Clinic, Ontario, Canada where routine tests revealed she wasn’t ovulating correctly.
She underwent 14 months of fertility tests and treatment which involved medically monitoring her cycle.
Sarah spent around £5,000 on hormonal injections to increase her fertility.
In October 2021, she was underwent her first full medicated cycle and was delighted to conceive in November 2021 using the strangers sperm.
But just six weeks later she experienced severe cramping and was scheduled for an early ultrasound.
To her shock, Sarah was told during a scan that she was expecting twins.
She said: “I was so delighted, but first trimester was terrible.
“I was so nauseous and barely able to keep any food down.
“I survived on French fries for weeks.”
At 20 weeks along, Sarah went for a routine check-up and doctors discovered her cervix had shortened to 1cm and was at risk of opening too early.
She underwent a cervical stitch which she was told would prevent it the babies arriving too soon.
But it only worked for two weeks and medics told Sarah the babies could come at any time.
She said: “The doctor asked me if I’d want them to try and save the babies lives or just provide ‘comfort care’ which was support if the babies didn’t make it.
“I asked them to do anything they could to save them.
“Every day I was talking to my bump begging them to stay in longer.”
At 26 weeks and six days, Sarah went to the bathroom and saw a toilet “full of blood.”
She was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada, and one day later, when she hit 27 weeks, she went into labour.
After 36 hours, her premature daughters Elora and Addison arrived within minutes of each other on 30 April 2022 weighing 2lb 2oz and 1lb 9oz, respectively.
The twins were rushed to prenatal ward where medics fought to save their lives.
Sarah said: “I was given an epidural and told they would arrive around midnight.
“But they arrived really quickly, and doctors were running in from the hallway.
“They were so tiny.
“Literally all skin and bone - they looked like aliens.
“Both of them were wrapped in plastic to stay warm.
“I later found out that Addison had to be resuscitated which was terrifying.”
Both girls suffered from grade 1 bleeds on the brain, had heart defects and needed blood transfusion.
The twins also had underdeveloped lungs and were on breathing machines for the first few months of their lives.
Elora developed a blood infection and a UTI during her stay in hospital.
Sarah continues: “Every day I left the hospital at 5pm and go home to an empty house.
“That was a difficult part about doing it by myself.
“I couldn’t comfort them when they cried.
“Being there became my nine to five, and for the first few weeks my mum, Jane, 63, went every day too.
“I couldn’t have done it without her.
“I was allowed to hold one at a time for a few hours a day.”
After a long health battle, the twins defied the odds and were able to go home.
“They needed to wear a helmet because they’re heads are flattened but otherwise doing great,” Sarah said.
“It’s really important to share my NICU journey - it was very traumatic.
“I know a lot of parents have been through this.
“I still have hard moments as one person two babies.
“But I also have very wonderful moments.
“So true what people say - the days are long, and the years are short.
“They’re a year old now and I can’t believe they’re mine.”
