- Mary Portas revealed that her brother Lawrence is the biological father of her son Horatio, acting as a sperm donor.
- Her ex-wife, Melanie Rickey, then carried the baby.
- Mary shared the emotional journey and her gratitude for her brother’s ‘greatest gift’ on a podcast interview.
Retail expert Mary Portas fought back tears as she revealed how her brother Lawrence came to be the biological father of her son, Horatio.
In an interview with Jamie Laing on his podcast, 65-year-old Mary explained how her brother served as a sperm donor while her now ex-wife Melanie Rickey carried the baby.
At this time, Mary already had two children with ex-husband Graham Portas, who she married in 1990.
The couple, who share sons Mylo, 31, and Verity, 29, divorced in 2003.
TV retail guru Mary met fashion journalist Melanie that same year, which is when, she says, she realised that she was a lesbian.
On the decision to ask her brother to serve as their sperm donor, Mary said that she was ‘very clear that I wanted to have a bloodline.’
‘If I was going to have another child, I wanted to make sure that it was related in some way and biologically related to my other kids,’ Mary said on Jamie’s Great Company podcast.
Because she knew that he didn’t want to have children himself, brother Lawrence seemed like the natural choice.
‘And Lawrence turned up to the old donor place and said, “Done it, sis!”‘ Mary revealed.
Melanie then underwent IVF treatment and carried Horatio, who was born in 2012.
‘The most beautiful time is when, you know, he came into the world and I rang Lawrence and Lawrence turned up and picked him up,’ Mary revealed.
‘And it was like, it was his gift to me. God, I get emotional. It was his gift. And it was the greatest gift.’
When asked what made Horatio ‘the greatest gift,’ the Mary Queen of Shops star replied: ‘Oh my God, you know, like because of the years that we helped each other.
‘I was always his big sis, and then he was able to give me this gift.’
After meeting Melanie in 2003, the pair entered into a civil partnership in 2010, before marrying in 2014.
Of discovering her true sexuality, Mary told The Guardian: ‘It wasn’t a case of, “Ooh, I’ve been thinking about Linda Evangelista.”
‘So in one way, it was just about Melanie. But there was a sexual attraction.
‘I do love women. What surprised me afterwards was that so many women are fluid in this way. I would meet them and they would say: “I was married, now I’m with a woman”.’
The couple divorced in 2019, following a period of ‘conscious uncoupling’, amid Melanie’s battle with alcoholism.
A statement released to The Sun at the time read: ‘After 17 years together we have decided to separate. There is no one else involved.
‘We have spent the last year consciously managing our separation in as good-heartedly, open, and mature a way as possible to ensure a smooth, amicable evolution for us.
‘We remain a family, and are committed co-parents to three wonderful humans (plus Walter the dog!) who are our priority. We remain good friends, and will share much together going forward.’
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