A GAY couple from Danbury will be propelled into the nation’s living rooms this Monday when a TV series about their surrogacy company begins.
Barrie, 43, and Tony Drewitt-Barlow, 49, hit the headlines in 2000 when they became Britain’s first gay surrogate parents. They now have five children and are considered ‘the most famous gay dads in the country’.
Since their first child, the couple have set up their own surrogacy company – the British Surrogate Centre – to help other couples throughout Europe have a child.
The show will follow the trials and tribulations of the company, highlighting the good times and the tearful times. It was the brainchild of fellow Essex lad David Van Day, former member of band Guys’n’Dolls.
Of the show, Barrie said: “You can’t help, but get emotional with some of the stories you hear coming into our office. But it’s also important for people to see the horror stories, like seeing innocent people getting ripped off by agencies.
“We’ve done one hour shows in the past, but this time filming is for a whole series and took about ten months. For the first time people will be able to see the real us, the kids screaming and everything!”
The couple are parents to one girl, Saffron, and four boys, Dallas, Orlando, Aspen, and Jasper, and became one of the first gay couples to get married when it was leglaised in March.
However Barrie found the day a bit of an anti-climax, preferring the couples civil partnership at Hylands House ceremony in 2006.
He said: “Tony was sick with cancer at the time, so it meant more. We didn’t know if he would be around.”
*The show starts on Monday, May 26, on Showcase, Sky channel 192.
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