Modern families: 'We spent €270,000 on IVF to become a family'

Shifts in attitudes and improvements in fertility treatment have opened up the possibility of having children to more people. Three couples talk about their long journey to parenthood

Katie Guinnane and Rosy Kennedy who are parents to 12-week-old twins Berry and Rudy pictured at home in Galway city. They spent €24,000 on IVF. Photo: Ray Ryan

What makes a family? Only a generation ago, Irish families mostly consisted of married men and women and their children. Single parents were shunned. Same-sex couples weren’t considered candidates for parenthood. And those who struggled to conceive often did so in shame and silence.

While the traditional nuclear family is still the norm, modern Irish families are becoming more diverse. The 2016 census showed that of the 862,721 families with children; 568,317 were married parents; 75,587 were cohabiting couples; 218,817 were single parents; and 591 were same-sex couples.