Ciaran|Kiran: The Ray of Sunshine for Matt & David Barclay

I still very vividly remember that time, about 9 years ago when I first received a correspondence from a lovely couple David and Matt Barclay.

Back then, this sweet couple already were parents to a 4 year old boy, Aidan, and they were looking to have another child through the assistance of an Egg donor and Surrogacy. In those days the landscape for such a scenario was very promising, the laws were permissible for surrogacy for foreigners as well as single parents and same sex couples.  After doing a lot of research, this family had chosen to approach us – for all the family was looking for was another child to complete their beautiful family.

We were successful to get this dream come true for Matt and David with the assistance of an egg donor that they chose after much research and the persistent efforts of our IVF team. When their second boy was born, the ecstatic parents had already decided upon a name for him. Although in countries outside of India meaning of the name is not much of consequence, they wanted to stay true to their Celtic heritage. So they named him “Ciaran” also pronounced as “Kiran”, which in Gaelic means “the little dark haired one”.

Little did they know that the name “Kiran” also had a Hindi meaning to it which means – “the first rays of the Sun” When they realized the coincidence of the meaning of this name, they knew that their second son was indeed a blessing. Our entire hospital staff also enthusiastically learnt the exact pronunciation of his name, Ciaran, and shared their joy of finally being able to take their second son back to home.

After all these years, the family reached out to us wanting to share their story and few thoughts on their life-changing experience with us.

I would like to do exactly that in this blog and let their testimonial provide an inspiration to all the families out there who are considering IVF and Surrogacy.

“It has been 8 years since our wonderful Ciaran was born with the assistance of Goral Gandhi and their team. Not a day goes by, when we are not eternally grateful for their help in bringing Ciaran into our lives.

Furthermore we want to add that Ciaran has grown up to be a warm and lovely boy. He is funny, and always seem to carry a unique perspective on life. He is a loving child and affectionate all the time. Incredibly gifted at reading and math in school, his friends and teachers say that he is a true delight.

An incredible thing we started to notice as he grew up was that he had this crooked little smile that resembled so much to his egg donor's smile; It simply warms our heart every time  we see it. It may sound strange but that is, after all, why we had chosen her back then – for that incredibly sweet and kind smile.

Ever since his arrival in our life, we have noticed that almost all adults who spend any time with him, fall in love with him almost immediately and almost all of them unanimously say that he seems like an "old soul". Especially as they all experience that there is some sort of deep wisdom in his words.

Over these years, we never experienced any episode of Ciaran throwing a temper tantrum, and he always expresses that he loves his family more than words could convey. After much discussion we decided that he should know his birth story well. We truly believe that it is this knowledge that makes him emotionally balanced and well-adjusted than most of his peers.

We have always told him that if he ever wants to go back to India to see where his life began, we would gladly take him. However we are contemplating that when he is about 10 - 11 years old, we may plan a trip to India and most certainly get him to visit Goral Gandhi and her incredible team at Global Fertility Solution.

We truly wish that when we do visit India, Ciaran gets to spend some time with Goral Gandhi as without her his existence and our incredibly beautiful life would not have been possible. Goral Gandhi and staff have truly been the angels for our family and also for many other families – as they are constantly striving to make the world a better place, one birth at a time with their exceptional technology and relentless efforts. We cannot thank them all for everything that they assisted in blessing us with Ciaran!

We wanted to share few pictures of our lovely family of four that this IVF team was instrumental in creating for us, and that has brought immense joy to us in every cherished moment over the last eight years.

We have always talked about having another child, but the parameters and laws have now changed in India. It may not be easy for a gay couple like us to opt for another child via egg donation and surrogacy, but we are totally content with the family we have now. A family that is a blessing bestowed upon both of us by Goral Gandhi and their efficient team.

With eternal gratitude,

David and Matt Barclay, Aidan, and lil Ciaran

PS: Ciaran experienced his first wasp sting few days ago. Despite being terribly traumatized by the pain, he called us at work to say that he is okay, while keeping up a brave front, fighting back his tears and keeping icepack on it for soothing it. Although he did add that he doesn't ever want to go through that pain again, we are sure this brave boy will face any adversity head-on, if any, in the future and that too with his sweet crooked smile!!”