Hello, I'm Emily Webb and you're listening to Outlook from the BBC World Service, the home of personal stories which intrigue, astonish and sometimes inspire.
You know, it's such a strange, mystical experience, trying to conceive whichever way you're doing it.
And I was baffled by it, to be honest.
Based on whatever fatalism or pessimism or something, I was like, no, it definitely hasn't worked.
So I was just genuinely, like, shocked.
That's Freddie McConnell talking about the moment he found out he was pregnant.
A few years ago, Freddie decided to have a baby, a decision that's a big deal for most.
But Freddie's situation was more complex.
He didn't know how people during the pregnancy, how the process would affect his body, feelings, his whole sense of self, and what would happen once the baby was born.
All of these things were playing on Freddy's mind because he was a man having a baby.
In this series, we're exploring the ways that children are conceived, carried and born in the 21st century.
All the stories are very different, but shine a light on the new, diverse and sometimes challenging paths people take to parenthood.
The series is called Modern Birth.
The full spectrum of agony and joy.
Oh, it was pure happiness.
Totally in another dimension.
Wow.
In vitro fertilization, or IVF for short.
For me, it was a complete identity crisis.
These are the tanks where the sperm samples being kept.