U..K’s First ɢᴀʏ Dads’ Triplets To Make History With 3 Parents On Birth Certificates And Their Complex Loving
Britain’s first gay dads are set to welcome triplets after spending £1MILLION on IVF – and could make history again with THREE parents on the birth certificate
Britain’s first gay dads are set to welcome triplets after spending £1million on IVF and could make history again with three parents on the birth certificate.
Manchester businessmen Barrie Drewitt- Barlow, 51, and ex-husband Tony, 56, spent their early lives on council estates in Longsight and Wythenshawe.
They became millionaires after building a successful business and two decades ago were the country’s first same-sex couple to be jointly named parents on the birth certificate of their twins.
After £1 million of IVF treatment, they are to welcome triplets after an American surrogate was inseminated with three IVF embryos.
Now, they could again make history as three parents are to be named on their birth certificates.
The family already have six kids. And their fertility bill soared past £1million after a surrogate in America was inseminated with three IVF embryos – triplets to be born in the UK next year.
Two of the embryos, which have been kept on ice for 22 years, are the offspring of Barrie and Tony and form part of a clutch which led to the births of their three eldest children: Saffron, 22, Aspen, 22, and brother Orlando, 17.
The third embryo is the biological twin of Barrie and Scott’s daughter, 15-month-old Valentina. It is from a batch – also frozen – created in 2019.
This means if all the babies reach full term, two will be quintuplets of Barrie’s eldest and one will be a twin to his youngest.
Barrie hit the headlines in 1999 when he and long-term partner Tony became Europe’s first same-sex couple to use a surrogate.
They went to court to be allowed to have same-sex parents on the birth certificates as “parent one” and “parent two” instead of “mother and father”.
They have vowed to fight the law again and make history by naming themselves as parent one, two and three on the birth certificate.
The men also hope to change society’s view on three parents, making it the norm.
The couple split in 2019 after 32 years and now Barrie is engaged to Scott Hutchinson, 28.
They wed in 2014, separated in 2019 but still share a £6million, 10-bedroomed mansion in Florida so they can co-parent all their children.
Tony and new love Brent are in a separate wing. And there are plans for a UK base – a mansion in Essex.
They all see themselves as a family bubble, loving and happy and have said that they each man gave their new relationships their blessing.
Their separation has not been bitter and Barrie and Tony are still best friends who want to be there for their children.
The children think it is ‘awesome’ to have siblings who have been on ice for over 22 years.
Their baby news means the family will be having an extravagant Christmas to celebrate their news.
They are going to get new cars and build a UK mansion, with each child having their own rooms.
All three men provided sperm in the IVF process for the triplets and may all be named as parents on the birth certificate as lawyers believe they could call for a change in the law.
They have chosen not to genetically test their respective children to confirm who is the dad. It gives them equality as parents. But it also means the biological lineage of their kids is blurred.
Source:mirror.co.uk, dailymail.co.uk
