Meeting Mr and Mr Luciani-Crout and their daughter Rani for the first time requires some mental gymnastics. Two men and a toddler are a somersault and a half. Yet this tight domestic unit mirrors the average Australian family in so many ways.
A lush garden inhabited by free-range chooks surrounds their modest home near the Victorian spa town of Daylesford. Inside is neatly kept and comfortable. Framed professional certificates hang above the computer in a nook of the kitchen where baby bottles drain beside the sink. Christmas decorations brighten the lounge room. Season’s greeting cards dot the sideboard. Assorted toys on the floor belong to Rani, who clings to Allan’s hip, her arms around his neck. Dressed in a hot pink tulle fairy dress, her blonde hair is swept into a high ponytail tied with a silver bow. Her conception was unbelievably complicated and costly. Sperm from one of her fathers fertilised an egg harvested through an anonymous donor in India where the embryo was implanted into the womb of a surrogate. (Elton John and his partner last month became parents to a baby boy using similar mothers of invention.) Silver anklets and Rani’s name are the only clues to an exotic heritage camouflaged by naturally fair skin.
For the full article, click here