MARY Portas has opened up about her brother Lawrence being the biological father to her son.
The retail expert struggled to hold back her tears as she told Jamie Laing about her unique family situation in an episode of his Great Company podcast.
Mary, 65, joked that her sibling didn’t come round and “s**g” her now ex-wife Melanie Rickey, but explained she was determined to “have a bloodline” when Mel broached the subject of starting their family.
“So, Mel decided she wanted a child, and I was very clear that I wanted to have a bloodline,” Mary, who is almost mother to twins Mylo and Verity from first marriage to Graham Portas, said.
“I wanted, if I was going to have another child, I wanted to make sure that it was related in some way and biologically related to my other kids.”
She added that because of the “particular bond” she has to younger brother Lawrence, and the fact she knew he “didn’t particularly want to have children”, she decided to approach him to be a sperm donor.
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“He looked after me,” she said.
“It was a real symbiosis.
“And Lawrence turned up to the old donor place and said, ‘Done it, sis!’”
She also said that her son Horatio, who was carried by Mel and born in 2012, is the “image” of her side of the family.
“Lawrence lives abroad now, but he rings us regularly and they talk about football,” she added.
“God, it’s so boring!”
Mary then grew emotional as she spoke about the moment Lawrence held Horatio for the first time.
“The most beautiful time is when, you know, he came into the world and I rang Lawrence and Lawrence turned up and picked him up,” she said.
“And it was like, it was his gift to me.
“God, I get emotional. It was his gift. And it was the greatest gift.”
“Why the greatest gift?” Jamie asked.
“Oh my God, you know, like because of the years that we helped each other,” she said.
I’m confused and can’t get my head around this
TikTok commenter
“You know, I was always his big sis,and then he was able to give me this gift.”
People in the comments section were quick to weigh in on Mary’s family situation, as one wrote: “That is still quite a weird family setup.
“Is it his uncle or his dad?”
“I consider myself open minded but that is very strange,” another mused.
“I’m confused and can’t get my head around this,” a third wrote.
However, others insisted there’s nothing weird about the setup.
“I would have 100% put this option on the table if my ex and I had got this far,” one wrote.
“I wanted to be genetically related to the baby that she would carry from her egg.
“I think it’s beautiful that her and her brother have that relationship.”
“For all the people saying this is weird or odd, I am donor conceived and in my community this is actually considered to be the most ethical way of having a donor conceived child,” another insisted.
“They will always know the donor, they will know how many siblings they have, they will know his medical history and the non genetic mother will have a genetic connection to her own child (as the genetic aunt).”
“What a beautiful gift to give to your sister,” a third said.
