Gay couple from Havant share their first year as parents in docuseries A Parent is Born

But they are now documenting their first year as mothers to baby Amos in a docuseries being produced by childcare specialists Johnson’s Baby. Directed by Bafta-award winning film director, Liana Stewart, A Parent is Born follows eight sets of first-time parents over their first year, including the Havant couple.

The pair met a decade ago when both were working at a holiday camp in America for people with disabilities.

Hannah, 33, recalls: ‘K-Anna was technically my boss – that's what I tell everyone, anyway! We had this whirlwind summer romance on a lake in Minnesota.’

From there, K-Anna, who is American, visited Hannah in the UK and the two decided to give a long-distance relationship a go.

K-Anna, 31, says: ‘Hannah came back for a second summer, and that really strengthened us because we got to see each other in England and America, but it was long-distance for a couple of years.’

Following a ‘pretty rough’ visa application process, K-Anna moved to England full-time in 2015.

The pair married in Colorado, ‘in grandma's back garden’ in 2019.

While many young couples’ thoughts turn to family, the Loyd-Wheatleys had talked about parenthood very early on in their relationship.

‘We wanted to talk about our plans,’ says K-Anna, ‘because you have to when you're long distance.’

‘It's a funny story – but she always makes me look so bad!’ Hannah laughs. ‘She said, I want to get married and I want to have a baby, if you're not into those things, then this isn't going to work. So I signed up for it, never really thinking that I wanted kids before. I was thinking, we can definitely put that off at least five years, and then reevaluate it then. I managed to put off the wedding for six years and the baby for nine years!’

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Going down the IVF route, they wanted a donor who was willing to be contacted.

K-Anna explains: ‘It's for after they're 18. The company that we went through doesn't let you know who the donor is, at all, but when the child reaches 18, then they can request more knowledge. So it's more about whether they're happy to be contacted in the future.’

The couple picked a man from a catalogue that gave them a few physical characteristics – rough height, hair and eye colour, skin tone (but not ethnicity), and then the donor could write some more personal details, if they wanted.

‘There were some very sparse entries,’ says Hannah, ‘and some that were very detailed, and I assume the ones with more detail are a bit more successful.

‘It was really important for us to have someone who was willing to be contacted, because I grew up without having a dad. I didn't know where half of me came from. My dad was never on the scene. My mum raised me as a strong single mum from 18 years old.

‘It was important for me to at least let Amos have that choice when he's old enough, to know more about that half of his heritage.’

In a sizable understatement Hannah says that K-Anna's pregnancy ‘wasn't straightforward’.

Firstly K-Anna had ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), a potentially serious complication from taking the drugs necessary for fertility treatment. This left K-Anna quite ill, and forced them to delay the next stage.

‘It was really intense,’ she notes.

K-Anna became pregnant at their first attempt. As Hannah says: ‘We were extremely lucky to be successful in the first round.’

In the UK, IVF success rates are 32 per cent for women up to 35, dropping to just 4 per cent by 44.

‘Every time we talk about it, I always feel like I have to say how lucky we are because we know there are people who go through multiple rounds and are still unsuccessful,’ adds Hannah.

However, K-Anna then developed serious morning sickness, necessitating more than 20 hospital visits – and causing K-Anna to lose 25lbs (11.3kg).

The couple had differing views on knowing their unborn child’s sex, but by the time they could find out, K-Anna’s health had rendered it somewhat moot.

‘By the time of the scan where we would have found out you were so sick, we were just glad that you were both okay,’ says Hannah. ‘It didn't matter what Amos turned out to be, whether it was a boy or a girl, as long as they were healthy. It felt like a bit of a miracle that they were both okay because K-Anna was so sick.

‘It was frightening. You see your friends and people you know enjoying pregnancy, and K-Anna couldn't do that.’

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Amos eventually arrived two days early, weighing 7lb 5oz, on March 10 at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham.

‘You know how midwives say if you feel reduced movement, call us,’ says K-Anna. ‘I could feel movement, but it was reduced, so I thought I'll just pop in, they'll do an ultrasound and tell us he's fine, and it ended up being that I had very late onset pre-eclampsia, and they said I'd be induced that night. It ended up being an emergency C-section.

‘This wasn't how I imagined it.’

Now 15 weeks down the line, the couple are sleep-deprived, but settling into the routines of parenthood.

Hannah has returned to her job at a housing agency while K-Anna remains on maternity leave.

‘It's been improving every day,’ says K-Anna.

‘It's true what they say – there's nothing like it in the world, but it is hard work,’ adds Hannah. ‘Meeting all the other people doing the documentary, and having other people go through it and seeing that they're also struggling has been so helpful. I've since messaged other friends who've been through it to say sorry that I wasn't around as much. You don't realise until you experience it yourself. It's nice to have those other families from the documentary around, so we can talk to them, we're all friends on Instagram and stuff.’

They became involved in the docuseries after K-Anna came across it while researching baby and parenting things online.

‘It popped up on the Johnson’s website about signing up. At the time I thought how cool would it be for him to see himself years on? I signed up and here we are!’

As a same-sex couple, exposing their lives to the public did give them pause.

‘Signing up for this, that was one thing I was worried about,’ says K-Anna, ‘because there are differing views on same-sex marriage. But everyone has been really supportive, of course friends and family have been supportive, but I think it's nice to showcase just different kinds of families. It's been really nice and welcoming, and for us it was important to share our story.’

Given their rocky road to motherhood, have they considered a second child?

‘Hopefully one day,’ says K-Anna, surprisingly – but the two are quick to add that it would be through fostering or adopting​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​.

Follow the progress of all the families in A Parent is Born at instagram.com/johnsonsbabyuk. Watch the first episode here johnsonsbaby.co.uk/aparentisborn.