TV star praised for opening up about son's conception

Earlier this week, TV star and presenter of Mary, Queen of Shops, Mary Portas, revealed that her two-year-old son Horatio was conceived after her brother, Lawrence Newton, agreed to donate sperm to her wife, Melanie Rickie.

The 54-year-old retail consultant opened up about the process in her memoir and attests that her brother felt ‘honoured’ to be included in the IVF process.

Upon hearing the news, evolutionary biologist, Richard Dawkins, took to Twitter to praise Mary’s decision, saying: “Beautiful. Sperm donor father is the brother of the lesbian partner of the mother. I can see why he felt ‘honoured’.”

Mary, who is already mum to 21-year-old son Mylo and 18-year-old daughter Verity with ex-husband Graham Portas, recalled the moment she met her second son.

Reliving the special time, Mary said: “Lawrence was the first one there and he picked him up it and it was just very emotional. I said to him ‘thank you’ and he said ‘it’s my pleasure’, and we just held each other.”

Opening up about the praise the couple have received regarding their family, Mary said: “We are simply sharing something which feels very normal to us all as a family – and if it inspires people or makes them think differently – or even if it challenges their perception of “normal” – then that can only be positive.”

Mary revealed that little Horatio calls her ‘mama’ while Mary’s partner Melanie, who gave birth to Horatio, is known as ‘mummy’.

Mary and Melanie converted their civil union into a same sex marriage last December at Westminister Hall.