In 2021, West Ham captain Katrina Gorry, who later played for Avalzness in Norway, stepped into the IVF clinic without telling friends and family what he was trying to do. A few weeks later, after choosing a sperm donor and having IVF, she became pregnant.
“I tried not to really think about what was going to happen. My period was always spotted that day and the day I went in, I got my period. I think it was about a week earlier.”
At the time, Golly was single. This was one of the main reasons she said she didn’t tell anyone before deciding to start her IVF journey.
“When I spoke to the doctor, he said, ‘I can start today.’ I probably couldn’t really think about the process, so I think it was meant to happen.
“I didn’t want them to change my mind because I think a lot of people were thinking about it and would have shared them with me.”
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Now, Golly is engaged to Swedish footballer Clara Markstead, and the couple has a second child together.
In the UK, the number of single women receiving IVF or artificial insemination treatments increased from 1,400 in 2012 to 4,800 in 2022.
After meeting with the Life Coach, Golly decided he wanted to try it out for his baby.
“It was just something missing. I went to sleep thinking about the kids, the name I wanted, what life would turn out with the baby. I wasn’t thinking too much about soccer. Everything happened really quickly.
“I had a meeting with Life Coach, and he said, ‘What are you missing in your life?” And I said I wanted to be a mother.
But despite the fact that lesbian women are giving birth to babies — whether single or couple, it’s still something that is rarely spoken in mainstream media, and homophobic abuse often continues — as witnessed last year by the world of women’s soccer through one of the game’s most famous Causes.
In November 2024, Golly’s teammate Sam Kerr, who played for the Australian national team for 13 years, and West Ham Christie Mewyth announced they were pregnant.
Many quickly congratulated the couple, but they faced what Chelsea described as “an unacceptable hateful homophobic comments.”
Chelsea head coach Sonia Bonpaser offered full support to Kerr and Mewyth the following day, saying, “These comments are not acceptable, especially in our world in 2024.
“It’s crazy to understand how people can react in this way. We’re so happy for Sam. I can’t wait to welcome this little baby into our Chelsea family.”
Golly told Sky Sports he hopes his teammates know that there is “more love than hate through it.”
“I don’t think it matters who your parents are. If you have love for your family and you have happiness for your family, then nothing else is important,” she said. “The more people can show that, the better the world will be.”
Collecting eggs, purchasing sperm and IVF
Anita Asante played for Arsenal, Chelsea and Aston Villa, earning 71 caps for England. She was part of the Arsenal side, winning the historic 2007 Stage of Squares, winning four league titles and four FA Cups, and also performed in the US and Sweden. And now she is also a mom.
At the time, Asante and her wife Beth Fisher were former sports reporters and Welsh hockey players who decided they wanted to give it a try for their kids. Asante was still playing for Aston Villa on the WSL side.
“Was there more thought involved this year? Asante said.
Asante was told that he could not train for several weeks for the medication he would take to prepare for egg extraction, using embryos carried by his wife.
“It makes sense for us as a couple to wait until I finish playing.”
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Real Talk host Miriam Walker-Khan talks to former soccer player Anita Asante and her wife about what it’s like for a lesbian sportswoman to have a baby. Listen to the full episodes of Real Talk about Sky Sports
After resigning, Asante, who is also a critic, joined the Bristol City women’s team as a coach, and the couple began their IVF journey.
“I started with the injection and it felt very strange. I felt different. I felt heavy as your ovaries were expanding.
“The physical activity I was used to doing, such as moving goals, felt a little more challenging. I can’t prepare myself for a sense of physical change or perhaps hormonal changes.”
The couple wanted to have a mixed baby, so they decided to use Asante eggs, which have a Ghanaian heritage. “We talked about how important it is for a baby to know where that part of her legacy comes from,” Fisher said.
Asante and Fisher chose the sperm donor based on his interests and values from the European Sperm Bank.
“You can hear them on the recordings and see photos from your childhood,” Anita explained.
“I think we went with our guts while we sifted through all these profiles,” Fisher said. “We both found these two donors from Denmark, but one was out of stock, so we went for this one donor that has stock.”
A few days after ordering the sperm, Asante and Fisher were informed that their first choice donor had returned to stock. Fisher called the clinic and was exchanged for previous sperm he had purchased, and replaced it for his first choice.
The couple became pregnant on their first IVF attempt.
Katrina Gorry and Anita Asante were talking on the Sky Sports News Podcast Real Talk. Host Miriam Walker-Khan will also be joining with Laura-Rose Thorogood, a lesbian mom of four children and founder and CEO of LGBT Mummies.
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