Britain¿s first gay fathers spend £65,000 to ensure their fifth child is a girl

  • Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow already fathers to four boys and a girl
  • Have travelled to the U.S. to seek specialist IVF treatment
  • ‘We wanted girls to balance our family,’ says Tony

By
Sadie Whitelocks

09:57 EST, 12 June 2012

|

10:37 EST, 12 June 2012

Britain’s first gay fathers have have spent £65,000 travelling to the U.S. so they can undergo IVF treatment which will ensure their next child is a girl.

Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow, from Chelmsford, Essex, hit the
headlines 12 years ago when they they
became they became the first same-sex couple to be legally recognised in the UK.

They have used a surrogate mother and egg donors to father four boys and a girl, spending more than £1
million in the process, but they are now desperate for another daughter and have looked to overseas fertility specialists so they can choose the baby’s sex.

Happy brood: The family laugh while dressing up as the Von Trapps for Closer's Sound Of Music-inspired shoot

Happy brood: The family laugh while dressing up as the Von Trapps for Closer’s Sound Of Music-inspired shoot

It is currently illegal to use IVF in the UK for sex selection purposes other than for medical reasons.

Two
weeks ago, three embryos were implanted in a surrogate mother in
California that the pair chose to provide their new baby.

Now they are waiting to hear whether she is pregnant with their sixth child.

This
time the two men have used a controversial method, costing
£65,000 that is allowed in the U.S. but banned in Britain – to
make sure the baby will be a girl.


Enlarge

 
The Drewitt-Barlows were the first British homosexual couple to be named on their children's birth certificates

Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow with children (from left) Aspen, Dallas, Saffron, Jasper and Orlando

As three embryos have been used, there is even a chance that the surrogate could give birth to triplet daughters. They already have two sets of twins Aspen and Saffron and Jasper and Dallas.

Barrie,
42, told Closer magazine: ‘We would love to have three more girls.
Saffron would love to have little sisters to play with.’

The millionaire dad added: ‘We can’t wait to spoil our new daughters. I want to buy them pink Prada dresses and babygros.

‘We
will recycle too. We are going to use Saffron’s old wicker crib from
Harrods, which cost £5,000, and divide one of the £100,000
diamond necklaces she does not wear any more into individual pieces for
the babies.

‘And we want to decorate the nursery as a rainforest!’

Barrie and 47-year-old Tony say that the sex selection technique is only available in the U.S., Mexico, Italy and Thailand.

Tony said : ‘If sex selection was not possible, we would still have more children and love them, whatever their gender.

‘But
the technology is available and we wanted girls to balance our family.
It causes outrage but I bet most people would do it.’

Tony
added: ‘The kids love the idea of getting sisters. They are so close.
They are all such different characters, but get along so well.”

Barrie
says they will adopt overseas if the current attempt at surrogacy fails
to work. Whichever way they achieve their dream of a new daughter, they
have promised to spoil the newcomer.

He said: “Saffron’s clothes come from every designer from Gucci and Karen Millen and she has 500 pairs of shoes.

‘We spent £50,000 having her room designed like a swanky London flat with a 39-inch plasma TV and furniture from Harrods. The boys are not as bothered about clothes, but we get them the latest iPads and laptops.

The Drewitt-Barlows were the first British homosexual couple to be named on their children's birth certificates

The Drewitt-Barlows were the first British homosexual couple to be named on their children’s birth certificates

‘People say we should not spoil them, but they deserve it.

The
pair became famous in 1999 when they became the first British same-sex
couple to be named on their children’s birth certificates.

Closer

Read the full story in this week’s Closer magazine on sale now

Twins Aspen and Saffronwere born to a surrogate mother in California.
After a ruling by an American court, they became the first British
children to be registered as having two fathers and no mother.

Four years later, they used the same egg donor and a different surrogate to have Orlando.
In 2010, the couple welcomed their fourth and fifth children, twins Dallas and Jasper, into the world.

They were born to the same surrogate mother who carried Orlando. The couple entered into a civil partnership in 2006.

The couple sold a clinical testing business in 1998 and found themselves swamped by same-sex couples seeking advice. With Tony’s clinical expertise, they set up the British Surrogacy Centre in Maldon, Essex, in February 2011.

Last year, the couple, who have made millions from cosmetic research, were accused
of fabricating the test results in clinical trials.

They were also accused of lying to an ethics committee by saying that Barrie
was a nurse when he did not hold the appropriate qualifications.

Euroderm Research, which went into liquidation in March 2008, conducted tests for dermatological and cosmetic products. They pleaded not guilty to the allegations.

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

‘There maybe trouble ahead’. I hope the children dont grow up to be very very confused; let alone the teasing.

PS Funny how two gay men could have 4 boys who enjoy dressing up and re-enacting the Sound of Music – wow what’s the chances of that!! Of course they all enjoy that sort of thing as all boys naturally do. So much for the child’s choice, mmmh.

These people are breaking all the rules just because they have money, the children are just like accessories.

It should be illegal to pay to chose the sex of a child. If they really want a daughter they can adopt one. Just becausae they have the money to do it doenst mean its right to create a baby to order.

He said: “Saffron’s clothes come from every designer from Gucci and Karen Millen and she has 500 pairs of shoes.’We spent £50,000 having her room designed like a swanky London flat with a 39-inch plasma TV and furniture from Harrods. The boys are not as bothered about clothes, but we get them the latest iPads and laptops. And I bet they’d swap it all for a cuddle with their Mum.

This is obscene. I am completely against gender selection unless there is a valid medical reason for it i.e. one gender might be born with a genetic disease such as haemophilia which predominantly affects boys. Children should be born to love, regardless of gender or balancing girls v boys in a family.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!

I’m so glad people have that kind of money to decide what sex of their next child is going to be, they should just be glad they have a surrogate to carry their children.

These two may well be wonderful parents but they would be even better parents if they did not publicise anything at all about their less than normal lifestyle.

yuk!

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