Alan & Cathy

Alan (he)

Cathy (she)

Eddie (he, 3 years old)

coparenting, multi-parenting, chosen family, intersectionality, queer, BIPOC, social justice

Region : Montreal

Cathy and Alan, two queer parents, have had a unique journey to create a family in their image. It was Cathy who proposed to Alan, her gay friend, to have a child together. After he agreed, Cathy and Alan decided they were going to co-parent and tried several ways to conceive before attempting in vitro fertilization (IVF), which was obviously successful with the arrival of Eddie in 2018!

This unique family was created thanks to Cathy, who followed her idea of finding a cisgender friend who would participate in her project of having a child. Cathy asked Alan, her first choice, to have a child with her, and to be involved as much as he wanted in parenting. The duo therefore began their project of having a child, starting with home inseminations, affectionately called the “DIY method” by the parents, which unfortunately did not work. Alan and Cathy therefore went to the fertility clinic to try in vitro fertilization which finally worked. Eddie, who is now three years old, is well surrounded by his mom Cathy; his dad Alan; Caroline, Cathy’s roommate who is like a second mom; and Zach, Caroline’s son who is like a big brother. Stefan, Cathy’s polyamorous partner, also plays an important parental role in Eddie’s life. Meghan, Cathy’s neighbor and best friend, who was with her when she gave birth, is also very involved with her son Junot who is also like a brother to Eddie. In short, this beautiful family, chosen as much as biological, knew how to create itself in a different way from the traditional model. The proud parents have a child whose spirit, energy and personality shine more and more every day!