Arthur Gourounlian shares sweet pics as Brian Dowling celebrates last birthday before new arrival 

Irish reality-show star Brian Dowling and his partner, dancer Arthur Gourounlian. Picture: Arthur Gourounlian via Instagram

Arthur Gourounlian has shared a sweet tribute to his husband, Brian Dowling as he celebrates his last birthday before the arrival of their first baby via surrogate.

Taking to social media the dancer expressed his excitement at having their own bundle of joy with them when they celebrate Dowling’s birthday next year.

The former Big Brother star turned 44 on Monday and his husband marked the special occasion with a number of throwback pictures.

The pair have known each other for 20 years and met in 2002 before tying the knot in 2015.

“Happy Birthday to the Love of my life @bprdowling the man whom the past 20 years ‘well 15 because we weren’t together for 5 of them’,” Gourounlian wrote.

“Those 15 years have made me love him even more than I could ever have imagined. And who would have thought back when we met in 2002 that in 2022 we would be celebrating your last birthday as a child-free man.” 

'Who would have thought back when we met in 2002 that in 2022 we would be celebrating your last birthday as a child-free man.' Picture: Arthur Gourounlian via Instagram

The couple said they always knew they wanted to have children and in May, they revealed that they were expecting their first child via surrogate in a video posted to social media which shows Dowling breaking the happy news to Gourounlian. Dowling’s sister, Aoife is their surrogate.

“I seriously can't wait for next year to celebrate your special day with our little bundle of joy who will be signing your birthday card and helping to blow out your candles,” Gourounlian continued.

“We have been through so much in the past 20 years but I seriously can't wait to spend more EPIC times with you and our child/children in the future. Let the exciting times ahead commence. Happy Birthday baby Je T’aime.” 

The parents-to-be previously opened up about the difficult journey to surrogacy, revealing that they first began looking at their options in 2018 and after Dowling’s mother passed away.

They told Amy Huberman on her podcast, Mamia & Me that they were “shut down straight away” by some places when looking for information on what their options were as a same-sex couple.

“Just because we’re gay, who decides, who decides oh, you can’t have a family because we don’t do that here? It’s just ridiculous,” Dowling said.