First gay surrogate dad discovers he has 21-year-old son

BRITAIN’S first gay surrogate father, who is expecting a second set of twins with his partner, recently found out he has a 21-year-old son.

Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow made legal history when the pair became the first British same-sex couple to be named on their children’s birth certificates.

They fathered twins in 1999 after travelling to the US and using donated eggs and a surrogate mother.

But last summer Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, 40, has now discovered he already had a son.

Colin, 21, was born after a “drunken night” with a neighbour.

Drewitt-Barlow told Woman’s Own magazine: “It came as a huge shock. I never had any serious relationships with girls. After a drunken night with my neighbour, I never suspected she was pregnant and then she did a moonlight flit.

“When we met I realised he was my son. We’re so similar. We had a DNA test after eight days. Now we talk most days — we’ve got 21 years to catch up on. I’m so pleased he got in touch.”

Four years after the fathers, from Essex, had twins Aspen and Saffron, now aged nine, they used the same egg donor and a different surrogate to have another child, Orlando.

They cemented their relationship with a civil partnership in 2006.

Drewitt-Barlow said they are now expecting another set of twins using a new egg donor and the same surrogate mother who carried Orlando. “We can’t wait to become parents again. As soon as we told Saffron, she went on the Harrods website and started ordering baby toys. I think she wants a girl because they were mostly pink. But the boys want brothers.”