Entertainment
Susanna Reid apologises for ‘insensitivity’ after asking lesbian couple: ‘Who wants to be mum?’
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Susanna Reid issued an apology to a lesbian couple after asking which of them ‘wants to be mum’ in a discussion about their fertility plans.
Megan and Whitney Bacon-Evans appeared on Tuesday’s Good Morning Britain to discuss suing the NHS over its ‘discriminative’ fertility policy.
The influencers, who have been together for 13 years and married for four, want to make it easier for same-sex couples to have children through the NHS. They currently have to undergo 12 rounds of private treatment, which is expensive, before they can receive NHS support.
Susanna, who was presenting alongside money expert Martin Lewis, asked the couple: ‘What are your dreams, what are your hopes?
‘Who wants to be mum? How many children would you like to have?’
However, when Megan replied: ‘Well we both want to be mum,’ Susanna immediately realised her mistake and owned up to the blunder.
‘Sorry, of course you both want to be mum as in, of course you’ll both be mum…,’ she said, adding: ‘I apologise for that insensitivity.’
Susanna immediately apologised after realising her mistake (Picture: Rex Features)
Rephrasing her question, she then asked: ‘Who wants to carry the baby?’
Megan, 34, and Whitney, 33, didn’t seem to be offended by Susanna’s comment and laughed it off.
The couple have accused Frimley clinical commissioning group (CCG) of penalising them financially because of their sexuality.
In November, the couple launched a petition demanding equal fertility treatment after they were ‘shocked and devastated’ at the barriers LGBTQ+ couples face to start a family.
Megan and Whitney want to make it easier for couples within the LGBTQ+ community to have children through the NHS (Picture: Megan and Whitney Bacon-Evans)
Their lawyers will now apply for a judicial review on the couple’s behalf claiming discrimination under the Equality Act and European Convention on human rights.
IUI costs less than IVF but has a lower success rate – and at between £3,000-£4k a time, taking into account buying and storing sperm from registered sperm banks, this can cost £30k or more across one year.
By contrast, the majority of cisgendered heterosexual couples are only required to attempt to conceive for two years before they are considered for treatment.
More: NHS
So far, Megan and Whitney have spent £8k on donor sperm and mandatory pre-insemination tests.
The couple, dubbed Wegan, boast a social media following of 210k social media followers.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.
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