Usually, when you find out a couple is expecting, you assume it’s just one of the people in the relationship, not both. Well, Toby Fleischman and Lindsay Lanciault defied expectations, including their own, when they announced they are both pregnant.
The couple shared their news on Instagram, announcing that they are both expecting boys. What made the announcement even more adorable is the fact that their dog, Liz Lemon, also had a “Big Sister” sign around her neck. The caption on the photo confirms it:
“Yes, you read that correctly. We are both having a baby … at the same time. Well, three weeks apart to be exact. Everyone always says they want to get pregnant with their best friend, and I just happened to be lucky enough to be married to mine.”
Mazel tov! Toby and Lindsay, who live in Los Angeles, explained how their journey to parenthood hasn’t been easy though, despite the picture-perfect look to their Instagram announcement (which makes sense as Toby is a celeb makeup artist and hair stylist). Initially, Toby tried to have a baby in summer of 2015, using a sperm donor. Sadly, she miscarried, and their donor’s sample was no longer available.
Luckily, their dreams of having a family together were renewed when their acupuncturist, Danica Thornberry, pushed them to work out their feelings of jealousy toward others moms and try a fertility diet—and they found a new sperm donor. Apparently, it worked, considering both moms are pregnant. Toby went on to explain how it worked:
“After a month and a half on this diet, I had this perfect, beautiful, normal ovulation — and that’s the month I got pregnant. I’m very lucky I got pregnant ‘naturally’ at home by syringe method.”
The ironic thing is that they weren’t initially trying to both become pregnant, but since Toby was having problems staying pregnant, Lindsay decided to stop–however, Toby also wasn’t ready to stop trying either. So, they both decided to try becoming pregnant together.
By the end of 2016, the couple found out they were pregnant within a month of each other. Sadly, the happy news came the week after Trump was elected, which definitely made Lindsay weary, as she stated:
“There was this level of ‘Is this the right thing to do? Bring children into this world?’ We were so fearful.”
In the end, though, Toby and Lindsay are eager to be moms together–and want to raise awareness for LGBTQ parenting rights, and also allow queer parents to feel like starting a family is possible, even now. Lindsay went on to say that they are lucky to live in LA, as opposed to somewhere more conservative:
“We’re really lucky that we live in Los Angeles. Hopefully, our kids won’t feel like they’re different because they have two moms.”
There have been several other high-profile stories of couples who got pregnant at the same time, most notably this New York Magazine article that followed a couple through the births and infancies of their two kids: “Emily gave birth to our firstborn, Reid, and I delivered Eddie four days later, so we have two newborn baby boys,” began the interview.
