Two Lesbian Penguins Welcome Their First Chick!

Defying nature and breaking stereotypes, two lesbian penguins in Valencia, Spain, have taken an exciting turn in their journey towards motherhood.

At the Oceanogràfic València in Valencia, Spain, reside Electra and Viola, a lesbian penguin pair who have been together for quite some time. A few months back, they showed signs of wanting to start their own family. Mimicking other penguin couples in the aquarium, they started to build a nest using tiny pebbles. Observing this, the penguin caregivers decided to give them an egg that was fertilized and laid by a heterosexual penguin couple who were struggling to take care of two chicks simultaneously. For several weeks, Electra and Viola devoted themselves to incubating the entrusted egg, which recently hatched.

The two penguin moms have thus become the happy moms of a little chick that they are now raising.

“Although same-sex couples are common in more than 450 species in both zoos and nature, it’s the first time this has happened in our aquarium,” Oceanogràfic València stated on its Facebook page. “Welcome to the world, little one!”

Many stories of same-sex penguin parents make the headlines every year because nowadays, the keepers don’t hesitate to entrust them with eggs.

Last year, the Sea Life Aquarium in London even announced its very first gender-neutral penguin, which was adopted by the aquarium’s lesbian couple, who raise a new chick every season.

Penguins are a fascinating species that constantly remind us of the diversity on Earth.

Electra and Viola still have many beautiful years ahead of them, and other chicks will surely come to fill them.

Meet Electra, Viola and their chick in the video below: