AFLW 2022: Tiger Kate Dempsey and Ellie George open up on their journey from teammates to soon-to-be parents
Tiger Kate Dempsey and fiancé Ellie George will welcome their little girl in June, though the road to get here was nothing short of surreal. Here is their IVF journey.
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This was not your average date night.
Tiger Kate Dempsey and her now-fiance Ellie George cracked a bottle of prosecco and as the bubbles fizzed, logged their way into a decision that would change their lives forever.
It was August, and the pair – who have been together for around four years – began making plans with Melbourne IVF clinic Newlife to have a baby.
As part of the search they jumped online and looked through donor profiles of a European sperm bank to choose a biological father.
“You get a little code, then you jump on and you’ve got all these profiles to read,” 30-year-old George explained.
“It was 12-15 pages about each one, and the amount of information was just incredible.
“There’s a little cartoon of what they look like, a full description and enough detail to know his cousin got a mole cut off their arm once.
“We know everything about this guy.”
Dempsey, 26, added: “It was the best night ever.”
As the Tiger midfielder prepares for this weekend’s AFLW Pride Round - Richmond tackles Fremantle at Punt Rd on Saturday afternoon in their ‘Midsumma Match’ - Dempsey has opened up about the couple’s pregnancy story for the first time.
She revealed the pair – who work in the mental health space – had countless online appointments, including extensive counselling sessions regarding their decision, their future, and conversations they will one day have with their future child.
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Known as reciprocal IVF, Dempsey’s eggs were retrieved soon before Richmond began its September time trials and the subsequent embryo was implanted into George as the gestational carrier just after the AFL grand final.
“For two and a half weeks, I had to do injections morning and night into myself at home,” Dempsey said.
“And I felt like I was the one who was pregnant. I was very bloated and moody and hormonal.
“Going in for the egg retrieval was the first time we actually met the doctors.”
George had to wait in the car because of Covid while Dempsey was put under general anaesthetic for the eggs to be retrieved.
She recalls waking up in a groggy state telling the nurses she had a liking for Dustin Martin — a story relayed to an amused George when she checked in to have the embryo implanted a few weeks later.
George is now five months pregnant and blood tests confirmed they are having a girl.
They pair are open about how lucky they feel – even more so in the wake of the Victorian government’s suspension of IVF services.
“It was just a lot of planning, a lot of stress, you’re just bracing yourself (for the worst) all the time,” Dempsey said.
“It was just so surreal. We are just so lucky … everything seemed to work from the medical standpoint. Covid was a bit dodgy, but it all happened so quickly.”
Their families were bit miffed that they didn’t even know the process was happening, but are now thrilled to have a little Dempsey joining them in June.
Dempsey and George met when they played in Richmond’s 2018 VFL side and became engaged in December when George proposed just before Christmas.
Because they want more Dempsey babies one day – next time, hopefully, using Ellie’s eggs – they have shelled out for more vials from their donor, at around $2000 a pop, which now sit with New Life until the time comes.
He’ll receive a message when the baby is born.
At the time of choosing their donor, the pair engaged an artist to draw the candidate based off the description provided.
“He’s very tall, like six foot – he’s Brazilian,” Dempsey said.
“He’s got darker skin, blue eyes. So tall, dark, and handsome. That’s another reason we went with New Life – there’s just no donors in Victoria.”
Ellie, who is now halfway through her pregnancy, will be at Punt Road on Saturday for Richmond’s Midsumma Match against Fremantle.
Pride is a word the pair — who think of themselves as like any couple, who just happens to be same-sex — admit they haven’t always felt, except at women’s football.
They don’t typically hold hands in public, in case they receive a comment or a look. Unfortunately, it still happens. They “just can’t be bothered”, at times, unless around their family or friends.
But for this little baby girl, born into a house of love – for each other and the game – will know nothing but acceptance.
“Some of our generation maybe still has those lingering themes of shame that you maybe wouldn’t think of overtly, but maybe not holding hands in front of people is an example of how that can sometimes bubble up,” Dempsey said.
“Our daughter won’t experience that at all. That is being stomped out. Very, very quickly.
“That’s the cool part.”
AFLW star opens up on ongoing Covid battle
- Dylan Bolch
North Melbourne superstar Emma Kearney has revealed her ongoing struggles with Covid-19 after the debilitating virus ruled her out of the opening match of the AFLW season.
Kearney said she has been left gasping for breath and struggling to eat since returning to the field in Round 2.
Speaking to the Herald Sun ahead of this weekend’s Pride Round, Kearney said she was still experiencing difficulties with daily activities.
“I suppose with the Covid stuff sometimes you feel back to normal, but then sometimes you do a bit of exercise or don’t sleep as well and get quite fatigued,” said Kearney.
Kearney hasn’t been able to catch a break yet this season, after making her season debut in last round’s clash against Adelaide, the Roos skipper was struck down by a suspected food poisoning incident.
“I think I got struck down with a bit of food poisoning post the game against Adelaide, so the flight home was pretty rough.
“I am feeling a little bit drained, from what the doctors say it’s not Covid related but it is a bit of a double whammy.
“For most of us who have had [COVID-19] we have lost our appetite, having to force yourself to eat, to fuel yourself so you’re right to go performance wise can be a challenge.
“There were certainly times on the weekend where I was feeling the effects of Covid.
“I was blowing pretty hard, mind you it is a game of footy though and you work hard.
The star Roo is one of over 100 AFL/AFLW players who have contracted the virus over the off-season.
“I had mild cold-like symptoms. But there were times where you’d start doing a little bit of activity, gym at home and things like that and you’d get really fatigued and then headaches come.
“Certainly not feeling at my best, so the week leading into this round’s game, the first training session back on Tuesday I felt pretty ordinary, especially in the first half.
“I’d do a sprint effort and you feel fatigued and have to sort of stop, as I got my second wind though I felt a bit better.
“During Thursday night’s session I felt back to normal with far less fatigue.
“It was certainly tough during my isolation period, moments where I felt good and then all of a sudden you’d go downhill pretty quickly.
Despite the disjointed start to the season, Kearney says she isn’t far away from full fitness and is “fairly confident to get back to 100% pretty soon”.
The Roos have encouraged players to be aware of their social interactions and buy groceries online, while also doing rapid antigen tests before each training session to avoid an outbreak within the club.
“Sometimes you get unlucky in terms of you test negative on a RAT when you actually are positive at the time and that’s how it can spread and unfortunately how a few of us got it a couple of weeks ago.”
On the club’s recent away trip to Adelaide, Kearney outlined the strict mask wearing measures the club implemented.
“Pretty much the only time when we were not wearing masks in Adelaide was when we were actually playing.”
This weekend also marks the beginning of Pride Round, a round which holds a special place in Kearney’s heart.
Kearney identifies as gay and is in a relationship with St Kilda vice-captain Kate Shierlaw.
“I think it’s really special, AFLW has always been a place where people from the LGBTQIA+ community have always been really welcomed.
The round celebrates inclusion and diversity within the AFLW community.
“It’s a way to showcase the amazing role models that we do have in the W space.
“It just shows you that we are leading the way with inclusivity and making sure people feel welcomed and that they belong.”
Kearney estimates that over half of AFLW players are openly LGBTQIA+, but is frustrated by the sad reality that the game is yet to see an openly gay AFL player.
“It’s something we should celebrate more often but unfortunately, we are in 2022 and yet to see an openly gay AFL footballer, whereas in the AFLW space, well over half of the playing cohort would be openly gay. It’s a very sad reality that we live in,” she said.
“It’s gendered stereotypes. In terms of what a gay man is, they’re more feminine apparently. It’s those nasty gendered roles which are causing issues but it’s also the homophobia that still exists.
“Just one look at Josh Cavallo, the abuse that he cops. To be honest it’s a society issue. Something needs to change and it’s the way that we showcase what a man should be and what a woman should be, it’s not one size fits all - it’s a diverse range.
For all of its benefits, social media has become a dangerous tool for online trolls, who can hide behind a keyboard, often without consequence.
“Social media companies need to start being more accountable to that online bullying. As good as social media can be, it gives people a platform to just say whatever they want which can have a hugely negative impact on not only the person that they are targeting but other people reading it.”
The AFLW Pride Round begins on Friday with Geelong and Collingwood battling it out at GMHBA Stadium.
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