Belinda is a solo-mother and Stathi is planning to become a solo-dad.
We think that sharing Belinda and Stathi’s stories provide a great insight for a lot of people who don’t know much about the issues mentioned above, or who are thinking of doing it and following the same steps as these two beautiful souls.
Theodore (Teddy) is a beautiful boy who was born in December, 2022, in Melbourne.
Belinda Payne is Teddy’s solo-mother, the parent of a donor conceived child.
Solo-mum Belinda Payne and sperm-donor and potential solo-dad Stathi Vamvoulidis at SBS Melbourne offices / SBS Greek / Panos Apostolou
Belinda wanted Teddy to learn all about the amazing person who helped create him and helped create their family.
And recently, Belinda and Teddy had this opportunity.
Belinda wrote on her social media profile that ‘not only is this person and his family exceptional humans, but he is also about to embark on his own journey in Mexico as a solo dad by choice and we couldn’t be more excited’.
One in every 18 babies born in Australia today is the result of IVF.
More women are choosing to have children alone, data from various groups suggest.
Groups that connect women with private sperm donors are also reporting a growing demand.
Figures from the Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority show that the number of single parents who gave birth via a sperm donor in one of the state's fertility clinics has grown over the previous decade.
In Victoria, 804 single women gave birth via donor in 2022, up 15 per cent since 2015.
However, those figures do not include the rate of single women having babies via private donor.
Belinda Payne and Stathi Vamvoulidis at SBS Melbourne offices / SBS Greek / Panos Apostolou
She describes him as ‘a very special individual to become a donor’.
‘A selfless act and something that means so much to families like mine’.
‘It wouldn’t ever be possible without them’, she wrote.
Belinda, her son Teddy, and her mother Meryl met with Stathi and his Greek mother, Connie (Κωνσταντίνα).
Belinda told SBS Greek that learning all about Teddy’s Greek heritage is priceless.
Stathi, an openly gay man, born and raised in Victoria, says that he has tons of love and respect to all the parents out there, and especially to the solo parents who give him faith to become a sperm donor.
Some sperm donors rarely get the opportunity to interact with families they’ve assisted.
But Stathi says he feels very blessed to get to know and connect with solo parent Belinda, at a time just before he started his own surrogacy journey as a solo parent.
Stathi has had a few fertility journeys.
He has been a sperm donor with a Melbourne-based IVF clinic since 2005.
In May 2024, he was contacted by his first donor-conceived child and his family.
Stathi has been trying to have his own baby for a few years.
Winning the reality show 'ΗuntedAU' gave him the financial push to start his own journey.
In 2023, he commenced with a clinic that were later charged with human trafficking, so he cancelled any dealings with it.
Then, he began again this year (2024) with a clinic in Mexico and is hoping for positive news.
