MY MIRACLE EBAY BABY

Stephenie Taylor, 33, wanted a sibling for her son, but she wasn't interested in a relationship

- MISHAAL KHAN, LUCAS CUMISKEY

Tucking my son Frankie, then three, into bed, I kissed the top of his head and felt a rush of love as he hugged me. ‘I love you, Mummy,’ he said.

Motherhood really was magical. Since Frankie had come along in September 2016, I’d raised him on my own after things hadn’t worked with his dad.

I wasn’t interested in another relationship and loved being on my own. No one to bicker with over dirty dishes, or meddling mum-in-laws making life difficult.

‘Here’s to being single,’ my friend Jen, then 28, and I had toasted.

But now, in November 2019, I’d started thinking how lovely it would be for Frankie to have a sister or brother.

When I discussed it with friends, they said they were sure I’d meet a man soon. Only, I didn’t want a man. I just wanted a baby.

SEEKING A DONOR

The thought of dating and having random men coming and going out of mine and Frankie’s life filled me with dread, and I started to wonder if there was another way.

One afternoon, I opened my laptop and started to research fertility clinics and sperm donors. But starting prices were an eye-watering £1,600 – far beyond my support worker salary budget.

Still, I joined Facebook groups that connected sperm donors with like-minded women, and it was on one of the groups that I spotted a post about a new app which matched women with sperm donors. ‘It works like Tinder. You swipe right if you’re interested,’ a woman explained.