Britain’s ‘first gay dads’ split after one starts dating daughter’s ex

Britain’s ‘first gay dads’ split after one starts dating daughter’s ex
Image: Pictured: Scott and Barrie Drewitt-Barlow Source: Instagram @drewittbarlow

A British gay couple who were dubbed their country’s “first gay dads” have ended their 32-year-long partnership as one has fallen in love with his daughter’s ex-boyfriend.

50-year-old Barrie Drewitt-Barlow and soon to be ex-husband, 55-year-old Tony made world headlines as “Britain’s first gay fathers” in 1999 when a surrogate mum gave birth to their twins, Saffron and Aspen.

 

The former Essex couple also later won the legal right to be named as parents on a birth certificate, in a landmark ruling for LGBTQI families in the UK.

However, Barrie, who is a self-made millionaire, has revealed in an interview with The Sun newspaper that he has fallen “head over heels” for 25-year-old Scott Hutchison … his daughter Saffron’s ex-boyfriend.

Maybe porn isn’t so removed from reality after all?

Speaking to The Sun, Barrie candidly noted that his and Scott’s love is the “real deal” and describes how his family has not been torn apart by the unusual coupling, and in fact, both Saffron and Tony have “given their blessing”. That is, after Barrie and Tony complete their separation.

“I’ve fallen in love with Scott and he has done the same. I feel stupid at my age to have these feelings about someone other than Tony and half my age. But when you know something is right, it’s right. We have not made definite plans but I would like to marry Scott,” he said.

“I’m not having a mid-life crisis — if I was having one I’d buy myself a Porsche 911. This is the real deal. But not everyone will get it, as our living arrangements are unorthodox — I feel like I’m living in a commune, we are all still living together.

“Our children are still in a stable set-up, more so than many other families have. But now Dad’s got a new fella and we are one bigger happy family instead.”

One big “happy family” is pretty accurate, as Barrie, Tony, Scott and the former couple’s five children all live under one roof in their 6 million-pound (AUD $11,4 million) mansion in Florida.

The men now go by the names Dad, Daddy and step-dad, in what they call “a very 21st-century family set-up”.

Many will recall pictures of Barrie and Tony cradling week-old surrogate-born twins Saffron and Aspen in 1999 as they revealed themselves as the UK’s first gay dads.

The men created controversy at the time by advocating for gender selection and their choice in beautiful, clever donors.

The couple was also famed as the first same-sex couple to win the legal right to be named on a birth certificate as parents.

Now, the couple is worth £40million from their investments in a trans-Atlantic surrogacy business and a global medical research company.

The twins Saffron and Aspen, who will be 20 next month, were conceived using the donor eggs of one woman, Tracie McCune, and carried in the womb of surrogate Rosalind Bellamy. However, 20 years is more than enough time for some significant changes.

Scott, who is bisexual, started dating Barrie months after he and his daughter had split up – much to everyone’s shock … and Saffron’s initial unhappiness.

“Saffron and Scott had been split for many months and this was something totally unexpected,” Barrie said.

“They never had a sexual relationship as she was so young. Scott had made no secret of being bisexual which was why their physical relationship never developed. It’s funny, it was Tony who first raised Scott with me.

“Of course she was annoyed at first … but Tony said, ‘This is a good idea. You can see how Scott is with Daddy, he likes him.’

“There were no rows. We just talked as adults. Saffron sees how happy we are and she has accepted it.”

Well, we guess that’s one way to keep it all in the family.

 

 

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