The first gay couple in the UK to be recognized as parents on a birth certificate have come to America to ensure they have a girl. Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow went to a U.S. IVF clinic and have hired a surrogate mother at the cost of £65,000 to “balance” their family with another girl. They have to travel to the Brave New United States because, like in most sensible countries, sex selection is illegal in the UK. From The Daily Mail:
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.
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.
Personally, I think dressing your kids in lederhosen and a dirndl to recreate the Von Trapps in a family photo might just be considered child abuse.
But seriously, I am not sure what disturbs me more: the fact that these two men probably created a bunch of little human lives and just threw out the ones that were boys in their quest for a girl, or the fact that they have intentionally created children to have 2 fathers and no mother, or the way they talk about their children as if the kids are fun toys, or even pets, to spend money on:
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!’
…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.
Oh well, if you recycle the crib and those diamond necklaces and decorate the nursery as a rain forest then by all means do whatever it takes to have a girl! Because, after all, boys don’t like clothes.
This is the problem with the notion of “family balancing.” It is flat out gender discrimination disguised in shiny “It’s for the family” wrapping paper.
Here is a newsflash: children are not accessories to “complete” your “family outfit.”
Every time I hear some one defending IVF and PGD or abortion so they can “balance” their family, I want to scream the phrase every toddler knows by heart, “You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit!” Wise words that many adults would do well to take to heart.
Rebecca Taylor blogs at Mary Meets Dolly
June 13, 2012 at 7:25 pm
Well aren't we just the lucky duckies. Less than one month after our gutless wonder elected officials in Washington D.C. refused to ban abortion based on sex selection, we are now seeing what will no doubt become the new popular reason to visit our country. Wow. It will redefine and give a whole new sub-meaning to our tourist industry.
Gay, straight, single female or single male – ya'll come and get it. We are here to serve up whatever you want.
I am so DAMN mad.
June 13, 2012 at 8:20 pm
Is there another planet I can move to? Because if America falls much further, there doesn't seem to be anyplace else worth living.
June 13, 2012 at 8:27 pm
Is anyone else thinking that these two men are buying their kid's love?
Cheri
June 13, 2012 at 9:10 pm
Wow. Just when Occupy Wall Street made you want to react against class-war ideas, guys like this come along and make you remember what rich people are like.
Fortunately I have room in my heart to despise them all.
June 13, 2012 at 9:18 pm
I can't even get past that they named their girl Saffron.
June 13, 2012 at 9:51 pm
Drone strike….
Seriously, doesn't your heart just BREAK for these poor KIDS! Awful. Just awful.
June 14, 2012 at 4:21 am
Holy crap. Just…wow… o_O
Its like AbFab on steroids-even down to the daughter's name. But it's a MILLION times worse because this Patsy and Edina are real-and so are the kids.
This whole story is repellent on so many levels.
June 14, 2012 at 1:10 pm
And who needs a mother when you have Gucci and Prada and diamonds?
June 15, 2012 at 3:58 am
The secular humanistic media is the tool of Satan’s smoke-and-mirrors assault on our Church and faith-based beliefs and teachings. Been this way for ages and good old Catholic and Christian apathy, consternation and bleeding heart, politically correct liberal “head in the sand” mentality are the major part of the problem. It’s simply a divide and conquer ploy, and it seems to be working.
Forty-three Catholic organizations and 13 dioceses have gone to court in protest of the Obama Mandate. This is good, except there are 195 dioceses in the U.S.
Some people are blatantly and shamefully attacking our Knights of Columbus Supreme Chaplain, Bishop Lori, for his leadership and courage in standing up and speaking up against the rising voice of hate, ignorance, arrogance and anti-Catholicism in our once proud and free nation.
Something is missing in this equation. If we can’t get at least a majority concensus in the fight in the Church, don’t expect to get any help from the written and/or electronic media. We are our own worst enemy, once again just like Roe v. Wade, gay rights and defending our faith in the public square. Fat, dumb, happy and totally oblivious as they get ready to release the lions once again. Oh well!
God must be shaking His head and wondering if and why He created a race of cowards and fools? But Satan is having a good laugh. But then, the question becomes, “Will we be laughing when it is our turn to stand before the throne of God in final judgement?”
Time for prayer or time to perish! Remember in November. Peace and Vivat Jesus.
ROBERT FALLON
June 16, 2012 at 6:32 am
That’s adorable! You did an awesome job.
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June 16, 2012 at 8:44 pm
This is just gross. How disgusting. Children are not toys to dress up and play with. I don't think I have the words to express how awful this is. Dead babies of the "wrong" gender, materialism of epic proportions, no mother, warped fathers….they are off the charts awful.