The Guardian on the rise of single dads by choice

The Guardian has published a feature about the growing numbers of men pursuing parenthood through surrogayc, adoption and fostering, sharing their stories, including single dad through US surrogacy Simon Burrell who was supported by us at Brilliant Beginnings.

“I feel so privileged to have been able to do this,” says 54-year-old Simon Burrell, an educational manager from Brighton. His son, William, was born to a US surrogate late last year. William’s birth was dramatic – he was born two weeks early, on Boxing Day, meaning that Burrell had a mad rush to get to the US and missed the birth. Meeting his son for the first time felt wonderful, he says, but was less overwhelming than he had expected. “I felt like I knew him already,” he says. “I didn’t have that feeling of being overcome or in tears. I was his only parent, he needed me, and I was already a day and a half late getting there.” As we speak, William is sleeping in another room in Burrell’s rented apartment in California; he is waiting for William’s paperwork to come through so he can bring him home.

The piece also discusses the case which our sister organisation NGA Law fought and won, changing the law in January 2019 to allow single parents to apply for parental orders.

“Gamble was there the day that the father of “Z” obtained his parental order, the first in the UK to record only a father. “It felt really monumental,” she says.”Thanks to the legal change, more men are considering surrogacy. “The options are opening up,” Gamble says. “More British surrogates are willing to be matched with fathers.”

You can read the article in full here.