Making Babies The Gay Way (C4): THE title made it sound like a particularly blue episode of Blue Peter in which an old washing up liquid bottle and some sticky back plastic was used to make something useful.

Indeed, at one point lesbian Katie and gay man Ricky were shown pooling their reproductive sources to make a baby. This was deemed less scary than doing the deed the natural way.

Katie didn't much enjoy inseminating herself with a syringe and contents supplied by friend Ricky. "That felt, well, disgusting - I'd rather have an enema," she said. Not a very romantic way of making babies, but Debbie and George took great delight in describing the process in great detail, using a DIY kit purchased on the Internet. "This has got to be one of the most bizarre things I've ever done to another human being," declared Debbie after "injecting" George with sperm donated by a friend.

Four years ago, millionaire businessman Tony and Barrie, his partner of 15 years, were Britain's first openly gay parents of surrogate children, namely Aspen and Saffron. Now they're expecting again - having rented a womb with a view to having son Orlando - and this is where it gets complicated. They conceived using a cutting edge American gender selection technique banned in the UK.

A previously unused egg was defrosted to create a third child, who'll be half-brother to Saffron and identical twin to Aspen, although born four years later. All of which sounds like something out of a science fiction film.

No one can begrudge those in gay relationships wanting children and, despite the surreal beginning of this two-part documentary, the dilemmas they face became all too clear.

Pregnant 20-year-old George's relationship went into crisis as partner Debbie - who has six children from a previous non-gay relationship - tried to accept that she'd have no biological rights over George's baby.

Tony and Barrie faced accusations that two gay men couldn't raise children as well as a mummy and daddy. "Don't you tell me I am not a good parent because I'm gay," snapped Tony. What you couldn't help thinking was that his wealth helped cushion any problems they encountered.

For all the bizarre scenes involving yoghurt pots, plastic syringes and a surrogate mother classing herself as "a glorified babysitter", Making Babies The Gay Way proved an eye-opening insight into the lengths some people are prepared to go to start a family.

Published: 23/01/2004