Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast

Competition and comparison between siblings is an absolute nightmare for parents. We all want our kids to grow up to be this unit that will support, protect, love, and be each other’s best friends. How can we use the short time with them to pass this message along? We brought Parenting Expert Einat Nathan to discuss sibling rivalry, when it is healthy, and what we parents need to do in order to not pour gasoline onto the flame. At the beginning of the episode, we came to Einat with the notion of the competition between brothers, but Einat first tought us the important distinction between competition and rivalry. “Competition is not natural, the rivalry is natural,” Einat said. “When I’m talking about Rivalry I’m talking about a field of practice in the sibling zone which we are not 100% aware of.  We’re all looking for this place of belonging, significance, attention, encouragement, all the good stuff that the parents have to offer is now a commodity, and the race for the commodity.” Competition between brothers, Einat suggests, is an unhealthy development of the rivalry. “In competition there’s a winner, and only one winner,” she says. “That’s the difference.” Einat says that the first thing parents should notice when they intervene in siblings’ fights is that we parents never know the full, big picture. “We see dots on a long range of time [which is the siblings’ relationship]. We become this judge because we are very edgy when it comes to every behavior that is not harmonious.” “If we understand or accept that we know nothing. If we step in in the name of justice – we’re not doing justice. We’re only reacting to a specific scene that we’ve seen.” “We don’t want to give our children this ideal of something that doesn’t exist, that relationship has to be quite, perfect. Relationships are messy, and they are all about communicating different needs, negotiating, explaining, getting hurt, making amends.” “If we are curious enough, we can be this ambulance outside the field, we’re getting the hurt ones, we can be there for them. When I hear, ‘mommmy!’ I’m saying ‘I’m in the kitchen guys whoever needs me is welcome to come.” Einat says that dissolving competition between siblings takes time, and the key for it is for us parents not to give equally to every child. “We parents have this amazing super power,” She explains. “We know at every minute what each pone of you needs. Not wants, we don’t promise the want, but what each of you need. And we’re going to prove it but it’s not going to be equal. When they have a birthday they are able to celebrate their siblings birthday with an open heart because they know it’s going to be their turn.” Also on competition, we talked about parents judging other parents. “We are basically wired to judge who’s in our club and who’s not,” Einat told us. “And we women are so good at that, you know. If she’s breastfeeding I’m thinking something, if she has a career and I’m a stay-at-home I’m thinking something, If she has this Instagram… and it all lands on our basic insecurity and/or on our innate need for a group, for empathy. We’re all yearning for that, against judgement and judging ourselves. And I think the minute we can accept that it’s all happening, you know, between our ears, and the subjectivity of us interpreting who’s for us and who’s against us, other people are commenting or judging or giving advise – it helps them feel superior. It’s the way that humans self-talk themselves, self-soothe themselves and find this group they want to belong to.” Our Guest: Einat Nathan Einat Nathan is a parenting expert, public speaker and bestselling author, certified by the Adler Institute and the Ministry of Education for Parental Instruction and Group Instruction. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Tel Aviv University.Her debut book “Haimsheli”, was the national bestseller of the year across all categories (2018) and is still a steady-seller. The rights for the book had been acquired by top publishers in North America (published under the name "My Everything", picked by Amazon editors as one of the best books of 2021) China, South Korea, Russia, Spain, Romania, Lithuania, Croatia, Turkey and the Netherlands.Her second book "Mishelanu" about parenting teenagers, came out in Israel in March 2021 and is also a bestseller.Einat lives in Tel Aviv with her husband Yuval, and her five children Eyal, Yoav, Lihi, Rona, and Shira. Men Having Babies Corner Men Having Babies is a community, nonprofit organization that helps gay men become fathers via surrogacy with education and financial assistance. In each episode this season, the team of Men Having Babies (MHB) will educate us on aspects of having kids through ethical surrogacy. In this episode, Executive Director Ron Poole-Dayan discusses twins pregnancy in ethical surrogacy. Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuest: Einat NathanOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereArticles Related to this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSFkczZrbLI "Kids are the best psychotherapy a conscious person can undergo. They take us back to our own painful and thrilling childhood, they will always be first to identify our weaknesses, but most of all they are a profound mirror that confronts us with the fact that we never were and never will be perfect..." - Read more Connect With Us Drop us a line Daddy Squared on Instagram Daddy Squared on Facebook Join our Facebook group! Work with Yan!

For gay men looking to build their family through adoption, adopting a children of a different race can add a layer in parenting. We brought on adoption expert Jennifer Bliss alongside Lane Mashal, a gay dad who adopted transracially and a former adoption social worker who lead transracial adoption workshops, to help us go in depth into the meaning of adopting a child of a different race. “For people looking to explain their family through adoption, there are three ways to do that,” Jennifer Bliss, LCSW, PsyD, Director of Adoptions & Foster Care, Vista Del Mar Child & Family Services, explained on Daddy Squared podcast, “one would be through international adoption, one is through foster care- adoption which is usually referred to foster-adopt, and then the third is through private adoption which is when people go through an agency or an attorney to adopt domestic, private adoptions.” “Adopting in itself adds an extra layer in parenting,” Jennifer said, “because you’re raising an adoptee. That comes with its on challenges and psycho-education and toolkit that the parents sould have to help navigate different encases over the years with their child. Choosing to adopt transracially adds another layer to that parenting experience because while it’s tempted to say ‘I will love you no matter what color your skin is, it’s beautiful,’ we have to be careful that we don’t minimize the difference or act like it doesn’t matter because it will matter to your child. And minimizing that basically will invalidate their experience.” Lane said, from his years of experience working with parents who adopted transracially, the biggest misconception of parents is that if they will be “color blind” and “show they love their kid no matter what,” maybe not even talk about the race difference between them and their kids, the kids will be fine. “It doesn’t matter if you say you’re color blind or not,” Lane told us, “because the world does not see your child in a colorblind way. And the child has to grow up knowing that the world doesn’t see them the way you are seeing them. My children throughout their childhood were always seen differently, judged differently, people talked to me about their racist thoughts upfront, because I was white, even though my children were not.” Our Guests: Dr. Jennifer Bliss and Lane Mashal For over 20 years, Dr, Jennifer Bliss has dedicated her career to the field of child welfare and adoption. After completing her MSW at UCLA, she became a family reunification social worker with Los Angeles County while earning her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. A few years later she transitioned into the non-profit sector as an Adoptions Counselor. In this role, she counseled expectant parents and prospective adoptive parents through the match and placement process.  She has been quoted in American Baby Magazine, Psychology Today, and has spoken on the importance of best practices in adoption at statewide conferences. She has also appeared as the adoption expert on Huffington Post Live and the Hallmark Channel. Additionally, Dr. Bliss was the primary adoption consultant on WEtv's 4-part documentary series, "Adoption Diaries” and co-authored the book Another ​Choice: A Compassionate Guide to Placing a Child for Adoption. In 2018, she joined Vista Del Mar as the Director of Adoptions and Foster Care. Guest Host: Daniel Vandenbark Daniel is a single dad, co-parenting with his former partner to raise their son, Torbett, who came to them through open-adoption. Daniel founded his design firm over twenty years ago, designing custom interiors and waterwise landscapes for clients in SoCal and through the US. Daniel is an outdoor enthusiast and enjoys sharing time backpacking, snowboarding and dadventuring with Torbett. Men Having Babies Men Having Babies is a community, nonprofit organization that helps gay men become fathers via surrogacy with education and financial assistance. In each episode this season, the team of Men Having Babies (MHB) will educate us on aspects of having kids through ethical surrogacy. In this episode, Lisa Schuster of the MHB staff talks about the effect of COVID-19 on surrogacy. Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuest Host: Daniel VandenbarkGuests: Jennifer Bliss, LCSW, PsyD, Lane MashalOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereArticles Related to this episode: "That's my son, and I'm his mother, and I don't know if you have some sort of a problem with that arrangement, but also I don't really care..." - This is Us INCREDIBLE pool sceneSurrogacy fraud storyWhy Adoption Wait Times are Longer Post-COVID?“I Saved All The Receipts”: Surrogacy Intended Dad Reveals His Costs Spreadsheet Connect With Us Drop us a lineDaddy Squared on InstagramDaddy Squared on FacebookJoin our Facebook group!Work with Yan!

Whether you decide to adopt or have babies through assistant reproduction, you'll want a judgement to approve your guardianship on your baby. In this episode of Daddy Squared podcast, we explore different types of legal guardianship with the help of Family Formation attorney Amira Hasenbush, JD, MPH. For gay men who want to become fathers, it doesn’t matter if you choose to do it through assisted reproduction or adoption, you’re going to need a lawyer to protect your parentage. Some states now have administrative procedures where you don’t have to go to court, but Family Formation lawyer Amira Hasenbush warned against that. “There’s something in the United States constitution called The Full Faith and Credit Clause,” and what that says is that judgement from one state has to be legally recognized in every other state in the country,” Amira explained on Daddy Squared podcast. “An administrative document is not a judgement. You want a judgement that protects your parenthood.” In our interview with Amira we explored the various ways in which attorneys are involved in protecting parentage for gay men, from adoption, to nomination of legal guardianship, to surrogacy, which include, besides the contracts with the surrogate and egg donor, a judge’s order that your babies are yours. “In some states you can get a pre-birth order,” Amira said, “that you get before the baby’s born. That’s what we do in California. The birth clerk uses that to put both of you on the Birth Certificate, from birth. And it will vary by state, even by county, as to what the judge is going to want to see. In California, if you do gestational surrogacy, meaning you have an egg donor, there’s a very clear statutory frame work of ‘these are the boxes you need to check’ and in most cases in California if you check all those boxes and the lawyer has put together all of the paperwork to say ‘yes we checked all those boxes’ you don’t even have to go in for a hearing.”  “So some states will do pre-birth, some will do post-birth and there are states that from time to time will require some sort of adoption proceeding. So it’s really important that when choosing your surrogate, talk to lawyers where the surrogate lives and the baby’s going to be born.” Talking to a family formation lawyer before you begin your journey to fatherhood can be helpful – no matter what route to fatherhood you choose. There are some family formation lawyers who only do assisted reproduction, some will only do adoption and there are many who do both. Amira advises to choose your lawyer from either AAAA, or The Family Law Institute, which is more specific for LGBT people. In our discussion on adoption, Hasenbush explained the difference between step-parent adoption and second-parent adoption. “Step parent histrorically was switching out the parents,” Amira explained, “it was usually, let’s talk historically, a different-sex couple, so you got mom and dad, they got divorced, let’s say kid goes with mom and mom gets remarried to step dad, so step dad wants to raise the child so they basically take out bio dad and replace, because you could only have two parents.” “Then we had all these same-sex couples who couldn’t get married, and they said, well, we’re two parents, and we’d like to both be the parents of this child,” and that’s how second-parent adoption started, which is basically an adoption outside of marriage. Amira also said that in California, starting in 2016, it was determined that we can actually file for more than two parents, and there are different ways to do it depending upon how things started – but that’s a whole other episode! Godfather In this episode we also talked about godparents, and how it's related to guardianship. We heard on the show Godfather stories from three gay men, Kyle from Texas, Armani from California and Jonathan from Wisconsin. Below are the full interviews with the guys. https://youtu.be/GfW68FrrPUU https://youtu.be/dzZ1DO_LDnY https://youtu.be/K3E3SNlpNPQ Our Guest: Amira Hasenbush, JD, MPH Amira Hasenbush is a family formation attorney, and the founder of All Family Legal in Los Angeles, California. She helps families through the process of surrogacy, adoption, sperm donation and egg donation.  Amira has chosen family representing all ends of the LGBTQ spectrum, giving her a deeper understanding of the special needs that may be involved for LGBTQ+ families.  Prior to taking her law practice full-time, Amira spent five and a half years as a Fellow for the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, where she did research and published reports on LGBT law and policy.  She graduated second in her class from UCLA School of Law and holds a Masters in Public Health from UCLA School of Public Health.  Amira has been published extensively and cited and featured in a variety of media outlets and journals, including the Boston Globe, ABC News, Time and the New England Journal of Medicine. She is an active member of the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association's Family Law Institute, the chair of the Legal Advisory Committee for Men Having Babies, and the Family Law Section Liaison for the American Bar Association 's Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Guest Host: Daniel Vandenbark Daniel is a single dad, co-parenting with his former partner to raise their son, Torbett, who came to them through open-adoption. Daniel founded his design firm over twenty years ago, designing custom interiors and waterwise landscapes for clients in SoCal and through the US. Daniel is an outdoor enthusiast and enjoys sharing time backpacking, snowboarding and dadventuring with Torbett. Men Having Babies Men Having Babies is a community, nonprofit organization that helps gay men become fathers via surrogacy with education and financial assistance. In each episode this season, the team of Men Having Babies (MHB) will educate us on aspects of having kids through ethical surrogacy. In this episode, Sara Miller of the MHB staff talks about the role of the lawyer in the surrogacy process. Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuest Host: Daniel VandenbarkGuests: Amira Hasenbush, All Family Legal and Jonathan Fox-Haines, Kyle Loyd, Armani RonaldoOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereArticles Related to this episode: It's Corn! Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys Directory Connect With Us Drop us a line Daddy Squared on Instagram Daddy Squared on Facebook Join our Facebook group! Work with Yan!

Money is a big issue when you are trying to have kids (especially when it’s through surrogacy) and – of course – raising a child ain’t cheap. We brought in celebrity financial planner, David Rae, to discuss saving and planning financially for your next big thing, and other financial planning issues that may occur for gay men. David Rae, a certified financial planner and a regular advisor on KTLA5 morning show, says financial planning is crucial for gay men who are thinking about having kids. “It’s definitely something you want to address before you start the process,” he explained on Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast. “You want to know it’s going to cost, say, $200k. You want to make sure that you put your financial house in order so you’re not putting this on a credit card, not mortgaging your future.”  “When I say planning ahead, look at ways to save for this expense,” Rae continued. “If you must, look at ways that you can possibly get a loan or take loans against your 401(k) which normally financial advisors wouldn’t want you to be doing. I wouldn’t suggest doing that to buy a car but to start a family, we are probably starting a family later in life than our [straight] siblings.” David, a gay man himself, specializes in the needs of the LGBT community and often blogs on his website about financial issues that come up in the community, looking at our lifestyle and how it can be adjusted so what we spend money on is what we think we really need – and not spend money according to expectations from our surroundings. About having kids, David advises to take time to save. The best thing to do, he says, is start an investment account and start putting away money every month and let that build up. If you go for loans consider where you have assets. “There are a lot of sources out there for terrible loans: ‘Oh sure I’ll just give you $200,000 at 30% and you’ll be in debt forever!’,” David says. “There are approaches for staggering different types of loan in time as well. The IVF agencies themselves sometimes have their own loan packages but their terms may not be the best. You might want to look at home equity loan of you own a home. You can even take a loan against your 401(k) if you must. And with all of that, be careful of the debt you’ll be taking on. You don’t want to be buying diapers for twins and drowning in existing debt.” “The interest rate is a big piece to consider, too. If you have a 5-year loan vs. a 10-year loan vs. a 20-year loan, you might pay a lot more interest on a 20-year loan and sometimes you think if you have a 20-year loan, you’ll have to pay all this interest. If you are stretching to make this happen or you are already struggling financially a little bit or on edge – it will make it more affordable and you can pay the loan up faster if you get a 20-year loan, but a 5-year you’ll be like, ‘oh my gosh, I have to come up with $200,000 in five years, that adds some extra stress” Our Guest: David Rae, CFP David Rae, Certified Financial Planner™, Accredited Investment Fiduciary™, and President / Founder of DRM Wealth Management LLC, helping you make smarter financial decisions and positioning yourself for prosperity. Working with a wide diversity of clients for well over a decade, he has built a successful career developing comprehensive financial plans to meet life goals, retirement, tax planning, estate issues, portfolio revision, life insurance, portfolio management, business exit strategies, and more. While based in Los Angeles, he serves clients across the country. At the same time, he enjoys a solid reputation as a smart, go-to financial guy for both mainstream and LGBT print, broadcast, and online media. Guest Host: Daniel Vandenbark Daniel is a single dad, co-parenting with his former partner to raise their son, Torbett, who came to them through open-adoption. Daniel founded his design firm over twenty years ago, designing custom interiors and waterwise landscapes for clients in SoCal and through the US. Daniel is an outdoor enthusiast and enjoys sharing time backpacking, snowboarding and dadventuring with Torbett. Men Having Babies Men Having Babies is a community, nonprofit organization that helps gay men become fathers via surrogacy with education and financial assistance. In each episode this season, the team of Men Having Babies (MHB) will educate us on aspects of having kids through ethical surrogacy. Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuest Host: Daniel VandenbarkGuest: David Rae, CFPOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereArticles Related to this episode: Golden Girls Retirement Plan / David RaeHow the LGBT Community Can Retire Early and Fabulously / David RaeRIP Leslie Jordan Connect with Us Drop us a lineDaddy Squared on InstagramDaddy Squared on FacebookJoin our Facebook group!Work with Yan!

Dealing with our kids’ fears is one of our key roles as parents. We invited Dr. Tina Payne Bryson, co-author of The Power of Showing Up who conducts workshops for parents, educators, and clinicians all over the world, to help us navigate our children’s greatest fears (and some of our fears as parents). Our consistent response to our kids’ fears defines the way in which they will deal with life growing up. Sound overwhelming? To us it did too. So it didn’t come as a surprise in conversation with Dr. Tina Payne Bryson (one of the most sought-after parenting coaches in America) that she directed us back to our own anxieties. “We are not at fault for all of our children’s fears,” Dr. Payne Bryson said on our podcast, “but we play a big role in how they construct the meaning of it, how tolerable the fear is and how to respond to it. So we have to start with ourselves and our own fears and anxieties.” “We first have to remember how much we set the tone and the meaning for our kids. You know, when you have a toddler and they hear a scary noise, like a helicopter overhead, the first thing they do is look at your face. And if your face looks scared that creates the meaning, ‘wow, that’s dangerous’ that they follow, especially in those early years.” We talked with Dr. Tina about “popular” children’s fears: fear of going to new places (new class, new camp), COVID-19, fear of the dark and fear of a parent dying. “Around the ages 4-6 and especially between 5-7 kids go through a significant separation anxiety or other kind of anxieties like not wanting to go to the bathroom by themselves,” Dr. Tina explained, and said it’s something most parents don’t talk about and may not know. “It’s evidence of a new cognitive growth, a new cognitive development spurt that they can now imagine bad things happening, parents dying, someone getting into the upstairs bathroom and murdering everyone – they can imagine these things now, but they don’t have the emotional capacity to regulate the feelings around that. So it is really typical for kids development and these are real legitimate fears.” Dr. Payne Bryson gave us some tips to handle our kids’ fears. One of them was to never criticize, minimize or mobilize the fears. “Comments like ‘why are you upset about this? It’s not that big of a deal’ minimizes the fear. That doesn’t ever cause the child to think ‘Oh, you’re right, I’m not afraid anymore.’ What it does is leave them alone with the fear. Their feeling stays the same but now they got the message of ‘they don’t get me and I’m alone with it because they’re just going to try to talk me out of it'.” “Our brain is an association machine. When we criticize them with ‘Why are you being so sensitive about this?’ they make an association with ‘I shared my feelings, that didn’t feel good, maybe I’m not going to keep doing this.’” “The third thing we don’t want to do is mobilize: ‘Ok, I’m going to call the camp director, I’m going to tell them you’re freaked out, I’m going to call the director, and I’m going to make sure I’ll stay with you the whole day…’ When we mobilize to fix it all, what it accidentally communicates to our kids is, I don’t actually trust that you can handle this – I have to go solve everything for you.” “All of this said, it’s important to add that even if you make all of these mistakes - criticize, minimize, mobilize - that doesn’t mean your child won’t not grow up to be a great human being," Dr. Payne Bryson assured, "because the most important thing is that our kids will know we love them. We can’t get too neurotic about every little thing that comes out of our mouths. And what we get wrong related to our kids’ fears on one occasion, we can improve and repair on other occasions." Our Guest: Dr. Tina Payne Bryson Dr. Tina Payne Bryson is the author of the Bottom Line for Baby and co-author (with Dan Siegel) of two New York Times Best Sellers—The Whole-Brain Child and No-Drama Discipline—each of which has been translated into over fifty languages, as well as The Yes Brain and The Power of Showing Up. She is the Founder and Executive Director of The Center for Connection, a multidisciplinary clinical practice in Southern California. Dr. Bryson keynotes conferences and conducts workshops for parents, educators, and clinicians all over the world, and she frequently consults with schools, businesses, and other organizations.  An LCSW, Tina is a graduate of Baylor University with a Ph.D. from USC.  The most important part of her bio, she says, is that she’s a mom to her three boys. You can learn more about Dr. Bryson at TinaBryson.com.  Men Having Babies Corner Men Having Babies is a nonprofit organization that helps gay men who are interested in becoming fathers through surrogacy navigate the sea of information and overcome the financial barrier. In this episode, Ron Poole-Dayan, the executive director of the organization, discusses surrogacy destination and why does the organization advocates for surrogacy in the U.S. and Canada. MHB Guidelines for Safe, Legal and Ethical Surrogacy Abroad Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuest: Dr. Tina Payne BrysonOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereArticles Related to this episode: Instagram Post of Jesse, a gay dad from ColoradoThe Power of Showing Up BookCOVID pandemic made people meaner, lazier: StudyEthical SurrogacyCharmed :) Connect with Us:

Going to the gym is part of gay culture. But when you have kids it's harder to make time for it. We brought in personal trainer and gay dad Chris Tye-Walker to help you bring back the motivation to lose that dad bod and get back into your sexy, muscular, DILF shape. It may be a little stereotypical, but most gay men make it their business to go to the gym. And when you become a father, the commitment to your body is just one of a long list of commitments. The goal of this episode of Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast is to help you with this commitment. “Having kids is super restrictive on all schedules,” explains our guest in this episode, personal trainer Chris Tye-Walker. “You lose any alone time, you lose time with your spouse to go and enjoy each other. Before I had kids no one told me that the last thing you’re going to have is time and freedom. Well, maybe they told me, but I didn’t hear them!”  “So when it comes to working out when you have kids, you can use your kids for your workouts, you can do your weights at home to still be active and [make your workouts a time that you are] playing with your children.” An ideal number of workout per week is five, “but that’s not always realistic,” Chris says. “I would prefer you’d do 30 minutes a day. And here’s the thing: we all get tired when the kids go to bed at 7-7:30 and it’s always a choice. If you want to work out when the kids go to bed you totally can. It’s hard, you want to sit on the couch, you want to eat you want to have a cocktail and do nothing. If you want to focus on fitness you can get up and jump rope for 15 minutes or do a circuit for 30 minutes – if that’s the time you have.” “If you’re just going to do cardio, you can do it first thing in the morning. If you do a session with cardio and weights – do your weights first, because you’re going to be strongest and freshest when you start your workout.” We also discussed body shame and that feeling some gay men have at the gym, and you look around you and see the hot, muscular guys around you. Chris recommends to stop comparing yourself to them, and to remember that they were once too where you are now. “Everyone suffers from body dysmorphia,” he explains. “I have it too, and no matter what you’re going to feel like ‘I don’t look good today’, ’I don’t feel good about myself.’ Someone who’s out of shape, or coming back from having newborns, or being injured or wherever else is always going to be very daunting coming back to the gym where everyone is younger or ripped. So, here’s the really hard part for everyone: no one gives a f***.”  “Everyone is so narcissistic in a gym, all they care about is themselves. No one is really looking. They’re on their treadmill, doing their own thing. Yes, people look, but you have to remember that everyone’s there for themselves, everyone’s there to prove themselves, everyone’s there to work hard, no one’s there to make fun of you for looking a certain way. Everyone in the gym is going to better themselves. Everyone’s been in the place where they’re not happy with how they look, even if it’s the person in the best shape in that gym – they had to work to get there, at some point they didn’t feel they’re in the shape they want to get into, so they went to the gym.” Our Guest: Chris Tye Walker Chris Tye-Walker (CSCS) is a Certified Fitness Trainer, and one of the most sought after celebrity Elite Performance Coach in Los Angeles. He is the host and creator of TheTreadSeries.com, a lululemon ambassador, and he has appeared as a Fitness Trainer / Host on Bodyrock.TV, SELF Magazine’s 5 Ways To, BeFit’s Transform workout series, and a variety of online, live and televised fitness programs. Originally from London, England, Chris has extensive fitness training and experience stemming from his own prolific career as a nationally ranked athlete. He ran Track & Field for Great Britain and was from 2002-2005. The discipline, passion for fitness, education and expertise that Chris acquired during his own athletic career, combined with his love for working with people, propelled him into a career as a fitness trainer and has made him an international success. He is favorite among the who’s-who of Hollywood. In addition to being a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, Chris has a Bachelors Degree in Sports Science (with a concentration in Sports Psychology). His fitness resume includes being a Guest Fitness Instructor for the NIKE Women's NTC Tour and working for the UCLA Department of Athletics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEQkuShPnxY Download Chris' List of Basic Moves When you’re stuck in your workout - fall back to one of these basic moves that fits with the program of the day. Sign up to Daddy Squared community and receive Chris Tye-Walker's cheat sheet of to your email: #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; width:600px;} /* Add your own Mailchimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ * indicates required First Name Email Address * Location (City, State) (function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LOCATION';ftypes[2]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true); Men Having Babies Corner International nonprofit organization Men Having Babies helps gay men who want to become fathers through surrogacy to realize their dream of fatherhood. The organization helps with education and financial assistance, and holds conferences across the globe that are dubbed 'surrogacy bootcamp' and help gay men navigate through the sea of information on surrogacy. In this episode, Sara Miller, a former surrogate and member of MHB's staff, explains how to choose your surrogacy agency and clinic.Surrogacy Directory - Ratings and Reviews Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuest: Chris Tye-WalkerOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereArticles Related to this episode: Chris Tye Walker on YouTubeDaddy Squared 1x03 (another "gay gym" episode): Dad Bod Connect with Us Daddy Squared on InstagramDaddy Squared on FacebookJoin our Facebook group!Work with Yan!

A Parents' Guide to Roblox: more than half of America’s kids play Roblox, and let’s face it: most of us parents have no idea what they actually do there. In this episode, we dive into the popular gaming platform, what is it, what are they doing there, and most important: is it safe? We interviewed a gay dad who plays Roblox with his kids, the platform’s Community Director for Safety and Civility, and for the first time in the podcast’s history: we interview our kids! Roblox, the popular gaming platform, seems to be a growing phenomenon that is becoming a childhood milestone, just like Halloween obsession or the Baby Shark song. “It is a platform where people can create anything they can imagine,” explains Laura Higgins, Director for Community Safety and Civility at Roblox. “We actually started as a physics classroom app and it was a way that young people can carry out experiments that they can’t do in the real world, for example, what happens if you drop a car off a tall building. So it started as a classroom, but what we started seeing is what kids were doing outside of the classroom. They were using their imagination to come up with that wacky creations.” Higgins says that the company encourages that parents be involved as much as possible especially when setting up the kids’ accounts. The tips she shared on our podcast in order to ensure the safety of the kids include using the kids’ actual birth date (to make sure the age-appropriate restrictions will be part of the child’s profile), choosing a restricted games list, turn chat on/off, choose who they can talk to and create a (not-obvious) pin number control. “Safety is definitely our core at Roblox,” Higgins says. “We are a platform designed around kids and for kids, so that safety was built right from day one. We don’t allow any sharing of identifiable information, so they cannot share their telephone number, their address, their real names – all of those sorts of things it’s banned.” “We have very strict chat filtering that runs across the platform, in fact, we use several filtering systems, it’s a mix of human moderation and machine and AI technologies that constantly run across the platform. Until very recently you couldn’t type any numbers. Our technology has moved on and we’ve become much more savvy about managing these things, we use contextual moderation, so for example if I work on a pizza place, it will be able to detect if you say ‘I sold three pizzas today,’ as opposed to ‘I’m 3-years-old’.” In the episode, we also heard from Jeremy, a gay dad in Minnesota, who plays with his kids regularly on the platform. Jeremy shares custody of his 3 boys, ages 11, 10, 8.  He works for a school district as the Finance Director.  Jeremy has been with his boyfriend for 2 years and, he is the Band Teacher at the school his kids go to.  They like playing Minecraft and Roblox as a family. "My partner and I were kinda dragged into 'we want you to play with us'," Jeremy tells us. "I am not a big gamer, so it was new for me, but I did help them set up their accounts." “It’s scary when you first start," the dad of three concluded, "it’s so overwhelming and I was like ‘I don’t know what to do, you’re going to have to show me'." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tThEJBBS_X4 Our Guest: Laura Higgins Laura Higgins, Roblox Director of Community Safety and Civility, Roblox Laura Higgins is Director of Community Safety and Civility at Roblox with more than two decades of experience building proven safeguarding, online safety and civility programs. Roblox’s groundbreaking digital civility initiative is focused on providing the community with the skills needed to create positive online experiences in partnership with the world’s leading safety and industry organizations that drive meaningful change. Civility online is a new concept that’s based on existing principles—that everybody has a part to play in making the digital world a better place. In her previous role with the UK Safer Internet Centre (part of the “Better Internet for Kids” project funded by the European Commission), Laura founded several award-winning services including the Professionals Online Safety Helpline and the world’s first helpline dedicated to supporting victims of image based abuse. Laura has worked with the biggest names in tech sitting on Twitter and Snapchat’s advisory boards. She has spoken on digital safety topics across the globe and regularly appears in the media sharing her expertise with industry experts, parents and kids. Guest Host: Daniel Vandenbark Daniel is a single dad, co-parenting with his former partner to raise their son, Torbett, who came to them through open-adoption. Daniel founded his design firm over twenty years ago, designing custom interiors and waterwise landscapes for clients in SoCal and through the US. Daniel is an outdoor enthusiast and enjoys sharing time backpacking, snowboarding and dadventuring with Torbett. Men Having Babies Corner Men Having Babies is a community, nonprofit organization that helps gay men become fathers via surrogacy with education and financial assistance. In each episode this season, the team of Men Having Babies (MHB) will educate us on aspects of having kids through ethical surrogacy. This fall, Men Having Babies is having two more conferences for gay men who want to learn more about building a family through surrogacy – in what they call ‘surrogacy bootcamp.’ They will be in Chicago (October 14-15) and New York City (November 11-13). Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuest Host: Daniel VandenbarkGuests: Jeremy Wilcox, Laura Higgins (Roblox), our kids! Adam and Ben, and Torbett.Opening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereArticles Related to this episode: Roblox introduces mandatory age-gated account tiers Parents Safety and Moderation Safety and Civility at Roblox Safety and Civility Page [Episode Extension] Therapist Tyler Tooley Utilizes Roblox, Mindcraft to Help Children Through Anxieties Connect with Us Daddy Squared on Instagram Daddy Squared on Facebook Join our Facebook group! Work with Yan!

What happens when he doesn’t want to have kids and you do? When you want an open relationship and he wants to stay monogamous? Daddy Squared opens Season 5 with couples’ conflict specialist, Dr. Alan Fruzetti

Throughout the season we've interviewed gay men from countries around the world, but all of these countries could easily be argued incredibly supportive of the LGBT community and of LGBT parenting. Not so much the three countries that we are focusing on in this episode The Not-Such-Great-Places-to-be-a-Gay-Dad Episode This season, Daddy Squared has (virtually) flown from country-to-country around the world talking to gay dads and experts about what it’s like to be gay and become a gay dad in places like Ireland, South Africa, Argentina, etc., etc. The countries we’ve covered have had all kinds of important variations in LGBTQ rights, parental rights, laws regarding Surrogacy and IVF, etc., etc. But one thing they all had in common was a basic belief in the right of a gay man to live openly – and have a family. For our season finale, we decided it was time to deal with the rest of the world: the many, many countries where not only is being a gay dad impossible, but homosexuality itself is forbidden or persecuted. For obvious reasons, our guests on this episode could not come to us live from the countries of their origin. Instead, X, Y and Alex joined us representing Taiwan & China, Russia, and Iran, respectively. It’s a fascinating and meaningful talk. And yes, we know: Way to end the season on a high note! But actually, having just listened to the episode ourselves, we’ve realized that the perseverance held by members of the LGBTQ community everywhere in the world is nothing short of miraculous – and ultimately, we shall overcome! China LGBT people in China face legal and social challenges that are not experienced by non-LGBT residents. According to the Constitution of China, same-sex couples are unable to marry or adopt, and households headed by such couples are ineligible for the same legal protections available to heterosexual couples. No anti-discrimination protections exist for LGBT people. Iran Iran's government structure is parliamentary. It has a "democratic" layer with a tripartite separation of powers, above which looms the "theocratic" layer with the Guardian Council and Supreme Leader. LGBT people in the Iran face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. While people can legally change their assigned sex, sexual activity between members of the same sex is illegal and can be punishable by up to death. Bottom line: it's scary to be gay in Iran. Russia Russia has long held strongly negative views regarding homosexuality. Although same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults in private was decriminalized in 1993, homosexuality is disapproved of by most Russians, and same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are ineligible for the legal protections. Our Guests Eddie Chen, an entrepreneur born and raised in Taiwan, moved to the United States in 1990 at the age of 16. He graduated from USC then founded a few businesses including a wearable heated clothing company called VENTURE HEAT.   With ongoing business in China and some family members in Taiwan; he travels back to Asia frequently. This allows him to stay connected to his heritage and familiar with current social climate.  He currently resides in Orange County, California with his loving husband of 5+ years.  They welcomed their first son in 2019 through surrogacy in California and they have a second son due in 2021. Dimitry Kostantinov moved to Los Angeles from Russia, and raises his 14-months son, born through surrogacy, with his husband, Casey. Life for LGBT People in China, Iran and Russia: Related Articles Man forced to flee Iran for being gay after police raided family home (London News, January 25, 2022)Iran’s new government leaves country’s LGBTQ community hopeless (LA Blade, August 16, 2021)WeChat in China shuts down LGBTQ-related accounts (LA Times, July 7, 2021)'All Discrimination Comes from Ignorance.' Meet the Chinese Ex-Cop Creating a Global LGBTQ+ Community (Time, June 24, 2021)'We're not hiding': Gay and lesbian Russians say a cultural shift is underway (NBC News, June 21, 2021)Gay Iranian man allegedly killed by family days before seeking asylum (ABC News, May 14, 2021) Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuests: Dimitry Kostantinov, Eddie ChenOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereArticles Related to this episode: Hungary: Hungarians speak out on anti-LGBT+ law as EU pushes for its repeal (July 7, 2021) Listen to previous seasons of Daddy SquaredJoin our Facebook groupConnect with us on Instagram

Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast looks at gay rights and fatherhood options in Ireland. We talked with Irish Minister for Equality Roderic O'Gorman, to get a taste of what it’s like being gay in Ireland, and researched options for Irish gay men who want to become dads. Ireland's Minister of Equality, Roderic O'Gorman responds to Westlife star Mark Feehily call on Irish government to put surrogacy legislation in place. "I think in terms of surrogacy, the problems that are faced by gay couples, we have very little legislation about surrogacy, and how the law treats children born through surrogacy," Minister O'Gorman said on Daddy Squared podcast, "and that's something that this government is acting on, we're committed to acting on this." "Laws of surrogacy are dealt with by our department of health and they will be leading on this but my department of equality and also the departments of children and of justice," Minister O'Gorman explains, "We have all been working together, so the three ministers have met a number of times with our attorney general. As I'm sure you know, there are many different circumstances in which a child can be conceived as a result of surrogacy, and different people can be involved depending on the approach taken, so there's a whole range of legal relationships that has to be regulated. Obviously of course, the center to that are the rights of the child, and I'm actually meeting with the minister for justice and the minister for health next week to continue to work on this." "Obviously our department of health, like every department of health across the world, has been absolutely focused on COVID over the last 15 months, but I think as we come out of COVID now and the situation here in Ireland has been improving significantly, we need to prioritize issues like this and it is a priority for this government. I know Mark said it's not an emergency, but it leaves hundreds, if not soon to be thousands, of children in a really grey area in terms of their legal rights with respect to their two parents and that can't go on." Our Guest: Minister Roderic O'Gorman Roderic O'Gorman is an Irish Green Party politician who has served as Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth since June 2020. He lives in Dublin with his partner, Ray Healy. He has said that he knew he wanted to be a politician even before he identified his sexuality. Surrogacy for Gay Men in Ireland "I think that surrogacy is what's growing at the moment [as an option for gay men to build their family in Ireland] and that's why it's so important to provide that regulatory and that legal framework protection for children and to make sure that the legal relationship between the child and their two dads is clear and strong," Minister O'Gorman said on Daddy Squared Podcast. There is no Irish legislation to cover the legal issues arising from surrogacy. Due to this current vacuum, the legal status and rights of all involved are governed by legislation dealing with non-surrogate births and children. Read about Ireland's surrogacy legal status on CitizenInformation.ie Fostering and Adoption for Gay Men In Ireland "Internally in Ireland, there aren't as many mothers giving their children up for adoption anymore," said Minister O'Gorman, "so the number of children who are available to adopt every year is very small. Some adoptions will take place within the family, maybe family members are deceased." In Ireland, there are currently over 6,000 children and young people in care and almost 90% of these are living with foster caregivers. If you are thinking about becoming a foster family, please make sure you follow all the prerequisites: You must be over the age of 25You need a spare bedroomYou need a full driving licenseYou must have flexibility in your working arrangementsIf you are fostering as a couple, you will need to have been together for three years and living together for at least one yearIf you have children, your youngest child must be at least three years old when you start to foster The Irish Foster Care Association can also help with any enquiries you might have around fostering a child. See: www.ifca.ie If you are considering adoption contact a your Local Adoption Office in the HSE. Organizations LGBT Ireland lgbt.ieTreoir, an organisation which provides information for unmarried parents, has a section on their website for LGBT parents, which provides legal information on a range of issues from guardianship to parental leave.COLAGE – Network For Children With LGBT ParentsEquality for Children Men Having Babies Often when we discuss issues related to surrogacy ethics, we focus on the surrogate and the prospective parents. Possibly even more important, though, are the rights of the children, themselves. What are the ethics regarding the children once they are born? Some kids can find themselves without basic rights like citizenship, health insurance and everything that's related to that. There's a lot of discourse worldwide that starts with surrogacy, and organizations like Men Having Babies claim that regardless of how a child came to being, they should have inherent rights for citizenship and parentage, and that they should be able to cross borders and be able to live discrimination-free regardless of opinions about the process by which they were brought into the world. Gay Dads in Ireland: Related Articles and News Surrogacy Bill to Give Full Parent Rights to Couples (The Sunday Times / November 12, 2022)International surrogacy to be regulated under new legislation (Business Post / November 12, 2022)Brian Dowling: Our battles for surrogacy or adoption left me feeling angry (Independent / May 7, 2022)Derry dads become first couple to welcome baby through surrogacy completely in Northern Ireland (Irish Central, February 17, 2022)Two men and two babies: Why Irish surrogacy law needs to change (Irish Times, November 13, 2021)'This directly affects my family': Westlife star Mark Feehily supports surrogacy campaign (Irish Examiner, October 5, 2021)Daddy and Dad: It’s little things that make a big difference (Irish Examiner, July 25, 2021)Westlife's Mark Feehily wants surrogacy legislation in Ireland to have rights for daughter Layla (RSVP live, June 14, 2021)Legal rights call for children born through surrogacy (RTE, June 1, 2021)Brian Tobin: Ireland’s approach to surrogacy law needs a rebirth (Irish Examiner, April 28, 2021)New laws needed on surrogacy, Special Rapporteur on Child Protection says (Irish Examiner, April 1, 2021) Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuest: Roderic O'GormanOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereArticles Related to this episode: Judge Denies Britney Spears' Request To Have Her Father Removed From Conservatorship (NPR)Pride flags cut down again in Waterford in 'truly despicable act' (Irish Examiner)Minister for Equality praises people of Waterford for 'incredible solidarity' with LGBTQ+ community (thejournal.ie) Gay Icons from Ireland Katherine Zappone Katherine Zappone is a former American-Irish independent politician who served as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs from May 2016 to June 2020. She was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-West constituency from 2016 to 2020. She previously served as a Senator from 2011 to 2016, after being nominated by the Taoiseach. With her Seanad nomination, she became the first openly lesbian member of the Oireachtas and the first member in a recognised same-sex relationship. Senator David Norris Norris is an Irish scholar, independent Senator and civil rights activist. Internationally, Norris is credited with having "managed, almost single-handedly, to overthrow the anti-homosexuality law which brought about the downfall of Oscar Wilde", a feat he achieved in 1988 after a fourteen-year campaign. He has also been credited with being "almost single-handedly responsible for rehabilitating James Joyce in once disapproving Irish eyes". Twink (Adele King) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqIqv7RAfv8 Johnny Logan and Ireland's Eurovision Winners Johnny Logan from Ireland is known by the name "Mr. Eurovision," having won for Ireland twice as a singer (1980, 1987) and again once as a writer (1992). His song Hold Me Now is not only a multi-million seller single, but also voted in the top 3 most favorite Eurovision songs of all time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJy9ZiliwwU Linda Martin - Represented Ireland twice in the Eurovision Song Contest: First in 1984 with Terminal 3, and later she won for Ireland in 1992 with Why Me?, which became a massive hit in several countries in Europe.Niamh Kavanagh - Represented Ireland in twice in the Eurovision Song Contest. First in 1993, she won the contest with the song In Your Eyes, then in 2010 with It's For You. Eimear Quinn - Eurovision Song Contest 1996 winner with the song "The Voice". Since then she has toured and performed extensively internationally and has released four albums of her work, the most recent being Ériu, recorded with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and released in 2020. Listen to previous seasons of Daddy SquaredJoin our Facebook groupConnect with us on Instagram

Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast looks at gay rights and fatherhood options in Brazil. We talked with Brazilian Senator and gay dad Fabiano Contarato, to get a taste of what it’s like being a gay dad in Brazil, and researched options for Brazilian gay men who want to become dads. Brazil has a constitution that guarantees equal rights under the law for all Brazilians regardless of background or sexual identity. "But in actuality," says Senator Fabiano Contarato, "it is a country that unfortunately is racist, sexist, classist and homophobic. Especially in terms of the nuclear families, I would say that in terms of the prejudices that we experience as gay men and other LGBTQIA+ it is our nuclear families that eventually has the most prejudice against our kind." "I will say that within Brazilian society, if a gay man is able to gain better position of power, we do end up gaining more rights within society," The Senator adds. It wasn't until 2019 that the Brazilian supreme court gave equal standing status to homophobic attacks at the same plain of race-based attacks. And it wasn't until 2020 that the federal tribunal in Brazil allowed for LGBTQA people to donate blood. "The rights of LGBTQA people in Brazil were not gained through the normal means of legislation," says Senator Contarato, "but through the supreme court where we would have to fight for the rights." Fabiano Contarato is currently married and has two children through adoption. As the first ever LGBT senator elected, he contributes a lot to the visibility of LGBT people in Brazil in general, and same-sex parents in particular. "Despite all the prejudice I was able to work at the police force and as a law professor," he says. "I was able to be elected as Senator and have more votes than the current governor." Our Guest: Fabiano Contarato Fabiano Contarato is the first openly LGBT person to be elected for the Brazilian Senate. He was the most voted candidate for the Brazilian Senate in the state of Espírito Santo during the 2018 Brazilian general election, with over one million votes. He's a Brazilian law professor, a former police chief, he lives with his husband and two adopted children. Ouça a entrevista completa e não editada com o senador Fabiano Contarato em português. No estúdio em Los Angeles estão pais gays e o casal Yan e Alex, com o tradutor para o português Mario Guevara-Martinez https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPmLtLwRefc Adoption for Gay Men in Brazil Adoption is legal in Brazil following a supreme court decision in 2010. The procedure is relatively simple, and begins with submitting an application for qualifying for adoption at the Children's and Youth Court of the city where the gay single or couple resides. They then present an initial petition containing: complete qualification, family data, certified copies of birth or marriage certificate or statement relating to the period of common-law marriage, copies of RG and CPF, proof of income and residence, certificate of physical and mental health, criminal record certificate and civil distribution clearance certificate. The maximum period for completing the qualification for adoption is 120 days, which can be extended for an equal period. Read more about adoption in Brazil (Portuguese) Surrogacy for Gay Men in Brazil Commercial surrogacy is not allowed in Brazil, as the Constitution prohibits the commercialization of organs and tissues. However, since there is no specific law expressly prohibiting such a reproductive technique, surrogacy may be performed altruistically. The Surrogate must be a family member of the first, second, third, or fourth degree of one of the intended parents – and can’t be over 50 years old.Similarly to the UK – the surrogate has parental rights, and so does her husband – and this is where problems can occur. As far as going overseas for surrogacy -- there's no problem bring the baby back to Brazil. A birth certificate from the country of birth with both parents written as parents grants both parents legal rights for the child in Brazil as well. Co-Parenting Co-parenting is also stated by courts, and since 2014 it can be given to three people. Men Having Babies Understanding the relationship with your surrogate should be, could be, will be--is important. You can find out what the relationship that your surrogate wants by talking to her and being upfront. Before you start it, before you get the medical screening and certainly before you start your journey you have to figure out what's important to you, what relationship you want and what sort of interaction with your surrogate you want throughout the journey, and when you talk to your potential surrogate see what she wants. Men Having Babies Webinar: You and Your Surrogate Gay Icon: Paulo Gustavo Gustavo was a Brazilian actor, comedian, director, screenwriter, and a TV host. Coming out as gay in adolescence, in 2015, he married dermatologist Thales Bretas. Their twin boys were born via surrogacy in 2019. In May 2021 Gustavo died following complications of COVID-19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc8Vscl2K7I Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuest: Fabiano ContaratoTranslator: Mario Guevara-MartinezOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereArticles Related to this episode: Blue's Clues - Pride segment Listen to previous seasons of Daddy SquaredJoin our Facebook groupConnect with us on Instagram

Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast looks at gay rights and fatherhood options in Israel. We talked with Israeli pop star and gay dad Ivri Lider to get a taste of what it’s like being a gay dad in Israel, and researched options for Israeli gay men who want to become dads. Parenting is engraved in Israeli culture. In this episode of Daddy Squared we give a taste of gay fatherhood in Israel as well as explore options for gay men to become dads. "In Israel these days it's really very common for gay men to have kids," singer Ivri Lider tells Daddy Squared, "it's pretty amazing what happens in Tel Aviv. In the last 10 years it became the obvious thing, like the normal obvious thing for gay couples to have kids. In Israel, having kids is something that is very much intrenched in society and it's, like, important. Having kids is like the most important thing you can do with your life." Despite the normality of gays with kids in Israel, and the popularity of surrogacy among gay Israelis, surrogacy is still illegal in the country, and gay men are forced to have kids abroad. "It is something that we really are fighting for these days," Lider says, "because right now it's a discriminating law. If you're a straight couple you can do surrogacy in Israel and also if you're a woman you can do surrogacy in Israel, but if you are a man you can't. It's kinda obvious that it's more of an anti-gay law because there's not a lot of straight men who go through surrogacy alone. We definitely see it as something discriminating against gay men, but the Israeli Supreme Court ruled last year that it should be changed. So it's this moment in time when we're waiting to see what's gonna happen with that." Lider, had his son, Alby, through surrogacy in the U.S. in 2019. "It's such an amazing thing," he says about parenthood, "suddenly to having a little kid and watching the world through his eyes, learning about the world with him and being able to teach him --it's just incredible." "It took time for me to decide that I'm doing it and how I'm doing it. At the beginning I was in a long relationship and I was thinking I would be doing it in a relationship, and then we broke up--partially because of that, because he wasn't ready, and then I was a long for a while, thinking I would do joint parenting, and I met with a few girls and then after a while I was feeling that this is not really for me, I was feeling that I'll never feel ready to do it with a woman who's not my wife, and I felt in a kind of deep psychological way for me to not commit enough. So I thought, 'ok, you're going to commit,' and I was still single when I started the process." "And the most amazing thing is that I met Yonatan, my boyfriend, right after I started. So I started the process as a single man but eventually when Alby was born we were already in a relationship. Yonatan will tell you that on the first date we were sitting at my house and talking and having wine, and I was like, 'yeah, I'm having a kid.'" Surrogacy for Gay Men in Israel Surrogacy is illegal for single men and gay couples in Israel, therefore, gay men travel abroad, mostly to the U.S. and Canada, for their journey. Joint Parenthood (Co-Parenting) for Gay Men in Israel "It's very common to do it with someone you know for many years," Ivri Lider says. "Like, a lot of my friends will tell you, 'oh we were friends in high school,' or we know this woman for 20 years and now we're going to have a kid together.' In a very Israeli fashion it's very family-like, a close relationship." Our Guest: Ivri Lider Ivri Lider is an Israeli musician, pop star, icon. He took the Israeli music world by storm and has sold over a million copies of his albums, which includes 12 original albums, live albums and DVDs. His performances are highly-praised by critics and audiences alike, and are always quick to sell out. Lider has fans spanning all generations – teenagers, soldiers, students, young couples, and even the young at heart who are sixty and over. His songs have become the soundtrack of Israeli living. Ivri is known for his versatility and for his passion to collaborate with artists from all different genres. In addition to collaborating with other musicians, he works with artists from the film, video, visual arts and dance world. Organizations Avot Ge'im (Israel's Gay Fathers Association) The Aguda (Israel's LGBT Task Force) Men Having Babies When men pursue surrogacy to build their families, obviously one of the biggest obstacles is the financial barrier, given that in almost in every variation a very expensive preposition. This is where Men Having Babies sees the fertility equality as crucial for our advocacy work. The reason being, that we are not considered anywhere as 'infertile,' therefore, even if there are benefits associated with infertility that would otherwise allow us to get insurance or other funds -- those are given only to heterosexual couples or people that they can show that they are 'medically infertile.' Men Having Babies is now advocating a new definition of fertility that isn't a disease, but also a status. Men Having Babies Parenting Options for Israeli Men Men Having Babies Gay Parenting Assistance Program (GPAP) Gay Dads in Israel: Related Articles and News ‘I always felt drawn to surrogacy’: The mother of three who carried a baby for two dads (Ynet / July 2026) With co-parenting on the rise in Israel, an advocate aims to export the model to American Jews (JTA / February 18, 2026) Israel’s LGBTQ community celebrates surrogacy equality (Israel21c.org / June 6, 2022) Children by surrogacy to be allowed for same-sex couples (Times of Israel, January 4, 2022) Israeli Court OKs Surrogacy for Same-sex Couples (Voice of America, July 11, 2021) Two Men and Three Adopted Kids: How Parenthood Changed Israeli LGBTQ Families (Ha'aretz, July 11, 2011) Nvidia To Finance Surrogacy And Adoption Proceedings For Israeli Employees (No Camels, June 2021) How Bituach Leumi avoids Surrogacy Law (in Hebrew) (June 2021) High Court pushes deadline to fix surrogacy law after elections (March 2021) Israel's LGBTQ Community Demands: Cancel the Discrimination in Surrogacy Law (Hebrew) (January 2021) Supreme Court Rules: Adoption Law Discriminates Against the LGBTQ Community and Will Be Changed (2017) Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuest: Jesse Brune-Horan, Active Love MinistriesOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereArticles Related to this episode: A Day of Pride - Book translated by Daddy Squared My Everything by Einat Natan Listen to previous seasons of Daddy SquaredJoin our Facebook groupConnect with us on Instagram Gay Icons from Israel Gal Uchovskyan Israeli screenwriter, producer, journalist, activist and Israeli TV personality. Read more Dana InternationalAn Israeli pop singer. She has released eight albums and three additional compilation albums. She was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 in Birmingham with the song "Diva". Read more https://youtu.be/h5W3ko1ft2M?t=193

Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast looks at gay rights and fatherhood options in Australia. We talked with Equality Australia founder and gay dad Tom Snow to get a taste of what it’s like being a gay dad in Australia, and researched options for gay men who want to become dads. Gay dad Tom Snow was a key person in Australia's Marriage Equality campaign. Though the Australian campaign was fueled by the success in Ireland and in the United States, in the interview on our podcast Tom explained the key difference between Australia and those countries. "In Ireland the biggest message around marriage equality was about equality," Snow explained. "In the U.S. there were a few things that were use but freedom was a big one, equality and rights were also big in the states. But when we message-tested those in Australia, the biggest thing that Australians get is fairness. And what we realized is that people just saw it as not fair that same sex couples were not able to get married. They could see the unfairness of it, and they were like 'that's not decent' that there's a group of people that are not treated the same." Winning marriage was important for the country, however, Snow told Daddy Squared it wasn't quite important for parenting, as gay men could have kids, even before marriage, in a few different ways. "Surrogacy, adoption and co-parenting are probably the big three," he says, "historically many gay men and lesbian women did it through co-parenting. The good news in Australia is that adoption is reasonably equal in the law, in that case it's reasonably equal for gays and lesbians. We do have some issues that some of the adoption agencies that are religious-based, discriminate against our community and continue to do so." "Surrogacy is harder for gay men in Australia, there might be a family friend or a family member who might carry a baby for a gay male couple. That's difficult [to find a surrogate] so many gay men do go overseas." A dad of a twin 10-year-olds and a 6-year-old through surrogacy, Snow shared his own story of parenthood. "Never is everything under control," he laughs, "but it's the most fun experience, every day is just a riot of fun. I say this to everyone looking at being a parent, it's a lot harder than I ever expected it to be, but it's also a lot better than I ever expected it to be. It is a complete change in your life." Adoption for Gay Dads in Australia Currently in Australia, laws around adoption and fostering by LGBT people differ by state/territory. The first step for prospective parents is to research which type of adoption or permanent care is possible in your state or territory. There are three types of adoption in Australia: domestic adoption (local and from out of home care), inter-country adoption, or permanent care and foster care. Helpful information about adoption in general and by-state in Australia can be found on adoptchange.org.au It's important to state that religious-based foster care agencies may appeal to legal provisions allowing them to refuse to assess LGBT applicants. Full information sheet on adoption and foster care in Australia by Australian Psychology Society (APS) can be found here. Surrogacy for Gay Dads in Australia Surrogacy in Australia is based on state-by-state laws. Western Australia, for example, only allows single women and heterosexual couples to engage in surrogacy. There are different rules, and generally the laws are you can have altruistic surrogacy so you can pay for costs but you can't pay for someone to undertake surrogacy for you. A typical surrogacy journey within Australia costs around $70,000 AUD. Most of these costs are the costs of IVF. Cost of surrogacy in the U.S. can reach up to $200,000 AUD. More info about surrogacy for gay men in Australia can be found here Co-Parenting for Gay Men in Australia Currently, co-parenting is still largest avenue for gay men to become parents (surrogacy is catching up fast though). Historically, co-parenting cases ended up in court in Australia due to scam or other problematic issues that stem from not really knowing the person you get into co-parenting with. It is highly recommended to look for co-parent through friends, word of mouth, rather than on internet searches. In general, law in all states say that all sperm donors must be known and so dads can decide the level of involvement they would like to have in their kids' lives and state it in their co-parenting agreement. Co-Parenting Agreements Rodney Chiang-Cruise, one of the Admins in Gay Dads Australia Facebook group recommends the co-parenting agreement to become a living document. "Revisit the contract a year later and see what has worked and what didn't really work," he advises. "Also, make sure to spend the first years build the family structure. Focus in the first two years on building the relationship with your co-parents rather than dividing the time of the baby. Spend time with your co-parent daily. Remember, it's not about ownership of the child - it's about building and raising a family." A dad on Gay Dads Australia group, who co-parent a 9-year-old and a 6-year-old with lesbian moms advises to draw everything up legally, even if it feels a bit awkward at the beginning, and really discuss not only what each parents role will be in the child’s life but what that roll actually means and involves for each person. "In our case, we learned that my partner and I had a very different idea of an 'active father' role involves compared to the mums ideas of that role," he says. "Things got a bit difficult navigating those differences for a few years but we are all now in a really amazing place with two awesome kids." Men Having Babies In several countries that are not allow surrogacy to the same extent as in the United States, there is a feeling that for the sake of the surrogate surrogacy should be uncompensated, as well as that the surrogate should have more rights to protect them, including, supposedly, the right to keep the child of the intended parents. The assumption is that the surrogate will appreciate that she will get to decide the fate of the baby she's carrying. The reality is that surrogates do not ask for this supposed right. More about surrogate's stigma and stereotypesMen Having Babies ethical framework for ethical surrogacy for intended parentsAlso, check out MHB's video archive on ethical surrogacy and legal clarity Our Guest: Tom Snow Tom Snow is Chair of Equality Australia, and was a Co-Chair and Founder of the Equality Campaign, which led the successful Yes vote in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey and saw in the successful legislative change for marriage equality. Tom is an accidental activist. When his family stood in front of a rainbow coloured Canberra Airport in August 2015, he was thrust into being one of the leaders of the marriage equality campaign. Through his business career, Tom has played a range of directorship roles, including being a director at Perth Airport, Canberra Airport, the Port of Adelaide, Bankstown Airport, Peninsula Link, Etihad Stadium and the Australian Science Festival. He was also Chair of the Canberra Convention Bureau. He is a Rhodes Scholar, and is a proud father of three kids. Organizations Gay Dads Australia (also check out their Facebook Group) Rainbow Families Gay Dads in Australia: Related Articles and News The price of Australia’s ‘ethical’ surrogacy laws (ABC News / March 21, 2026) Australian Gay Dads Share Foster to Adoption Story (January 14, 2023) As a single, gay man, I refused to forget fatherhood (SBS News / April 20, 2022) Single Aussie gay man makes history with the birth of his own baby boy: 'It's a love like I've never experienced before' (Daily Mail / April 5, 2022) Student Volunteer Army founder Sam Johnson and husband searching for surrogate to start family (Stuff, March 5, 2022) How surrogacy allowed a single man to keep hold of his fatherhood dream (The Age, December 5, 2021) Recognising Children of Same-Sex Couples (by Owen Hodge Lawyers, 2020) From foster to 'forever' parents: One gay couple's path to adoption (SBS News, 2018) Shattering the Co-Parenting Dream (Star Observer, 2015) Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuest: Jesse Brune-Horan, Active Love MinistriesOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereArticles Related to this episode: A Supreme Court Case Poses a Threat to L.G.B.T.Q. Foster Kids (The New York Time, June 5, 2021) Me, My Therapist and Kylie Minogue (Yan's op-ed in HuffPost) Tom's choice for Australian gay icons: Ian Thorpe and Magda Szubanski Listen to previous seasons of Daddy SquaredJoin our Facebook groupConnect with us on Instagram

Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast looks at gay rights and fatherhood options in Argentina. We talked with Argentinian LGBT activist Pablo Fracchia to get a taste of what it’s like being a gay dad in Argentina, and researched options for gay men who want to become dads. Pablo Fracchia signed up to adopt a child in 2017, and after two long years of waiting he got a phone call from a family judge. The judge matched him with Mia, a little girl who suffered with a severe gastrointestinal condition, needed serious medical attention and her biological family was unable to provide it, so she was sent to an institution for children with health issues. Fracchia adopted her after she was living in the hospital for a year, alone. His story was told all over the world. ״It's been a crazy year," Pablo admits on Daddy Squared Podcast. "The article came out last year in Argentina for our Diverse Families Day, the newspaper wanted to make an article about diverse families, they contacted me and for the last year it's been crazy. "A lot of people contact me through social media and I'm trying to [answer all the questions about my story]. There's a lot of misconception about adoption in Argentina, about this process that used to be a very complex, but was simplified over the years so a lot of people ask me questions, I became some source of information and since I'm also a social worker and work on LGBT issues, to me it's a way of activism by itself to help people to achieve their parenting dreams." The most inspiring detail in Pablo's story was his decision to adopt a child as a single man, a decision that according to him wasn't easy to make. "The first thing I did when I decided to adopt on my own was to gather my family and tell them you know I'm making this life decision and I'm not going to be able to do it if you're not supporting me," Pablo tells us. "I needed to know that they were going to be by my side and of course they were absolutely on board. "I was thinking that it was time to break the idea that in order to have a kid you have to be in a relationship. I worked that with my therapist, and said ok let's do it." Despite the acceptance of the law in Argentina in regards to LGBT people, visibility of LGBT parents makes life for LGBT families in Argentina a lot better. People like trans actress Florencia De La V, gay dancer and TV Judge Flavio Mendoza, and trans comedienne Lizy Tagliani had famously have gone through surrogacy in the United States and are outspoken about their families. "In a way, traditional families are still a thing, even if statistic says that they are a minority," Pablo says. "40% of the families are traditional, the rest are a wide variety of combinations, so even if they are minority, representation is still a thing, and it matters a lot." Adoption for Gay Dads in Argentina Differently than other countries, in Argentina all of the adoption process is done through a family court. Depends on your province, you have to go to the justice system in your province. Print it and present it to family court to open the file process of interviews of social worker and psychologist the judge oks you to become a parent. According to Pablo, most often than not the process of adoption in Argentina is slowed down by a lot because of conditions intended parents have about what kind of child they'd like to adopt. "There's a difference between what adoptive parents are expecting and what kind of kids are in the system," he says. Surrogacy for Gay Dads in Argentina In Argentina there seems to be a legal vacuum in regards to surrogacy. It is not prohibited, but neither is it regulated. According to Argentinian Press the first the first gay couple to have a child by surrogacy in Argentina was in 2015. After the baby is born, it is discussed in court on who the legal parents are going to be. There are known surrogacy cases where the judge has decided against the intended parents after the child was born. Buenos Aires recommends that judicial authorization be carried out prior to starting the treatment. In August 2017, from a surrogacy case, we get a new judgment that warranty the filiación of any baby born in Ciudad de Buenos Aires from surrogacy, issuing  the birth certificate with both parents (regardless family conformation) as a regular birth certificate. Anyone has a right to this, but the only restriction is that the baby must born in Ciudad de Buenos Aires CABA, for the rest of Argentina must go through legal procedures. [Thank you Federico from LGBT Argentinian Federation for this info!] Co-Parenting for Gay men in Argentina There's not much info about becoming gay dads through co-parenting in Argentina, however, co-parenting matchmaking websites from other countries allow Argentinian men to set up a profile and find co-parents in their area. Good examples for that are co-padres.net and coparentalys.com Men Having Babies On Surrogacy compensation: Our position is that contrary to what happens in Canada and the UK for example, that surrogate compensation should be something that we celebrate but also able to explain. We believe this is a restitution for the burden of pregnancy. A surrogate goes through some physical discomfort, the surrogacy and the pregnancy distrust their family lives and they are undertaking some risks. Those are burdains that should be compensated. This is not to mean that the surrogate works for us, it doesn't mean that she rents her womb, it doesn't mean that she gets paid x dollars per hour of carrying a baby and it certainly doesn't mean that she gets paid for the baby, and the compensations should be independent of whether there's a birth of a healthy child at the end. Our Guest: Pablo Fracchia Pablo is a prominent Argentinian gay activist and social worker. He has been working with the LGBTQ+ Federation of Argentina and is outspoken in the fight for human rights to establish marriage equality. He became famous in Argentina in a story that was republished all over the world, after he adopted a girl, Mia, who was living in a hospital for a year, as a single dad. Organizations Familias Diversas Argentinas Federación Argentina LGBT Gay Dads in Argentina: Related Articles and News Same-sex couple pushes to normalize surrogacy in Argentina (CNN, May 2025) Argentina’s Surrogacy Stalemate (Growing Families, 2024) Stories of men who are fathers thanks to surrogacy (La Nacion, 2019) Argentina registra por primera vez a hijo de madres homosexuales y padre biológico (Eluniverso, 2015) Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuest: Pablo FracchiaOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereArticles Related to this episode:Hit it TikTokPablo's Choice for Argentinian Gay Icon: Moria Kasan Listen to previous seasons of Daddy SquaredJoin our Facebook groupConnect with us on Instagram

Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast looks at gay rights and fatherhood options in the UK. We talked with Brit actor Charlie Condou to get a taste of what it’s like being a gay dad in the UK, and researched options for gay men who want to become dads. The number of gay dads in the UK is increasing. Many gay men are exploring parenting options, and to make things easier, Alex and Yan have called for the help of actor Charlie Condou who has been outspoken about his life as a gay man and as a parent. "Things are certainly better than they were when I was a young man," actor Charlie Condou tells us in this episode, "and you see it with the younger generation of the LGBTQ community. They walk around holding hands, which is something that we certainly never would have done. Everything seems to be much more acceptable. Gay relationships as a whole, the fact that we can get married now, and the fact that we can have children." "It's relatively new, I suppose. I mean, I think that gay women have been getting on with having kids for a long time, because, you know, it's easier for them to have children. Gay men have never really been a part of the conversation for a long time and I think, if you were a gay man and you wanted to be a parent, you either got married to a woman and went down that lie, or you parked it and you thought ok this is something that I have to put out of my mind and put out of my life because it's not an option for me." "We couldn't adopt, surrogacy wasn't a thing, and we're a very different place now, and younger gay men today, when they get into a relationship and even if they don't want to have kids, it's still part of the conversation, they'll still have that discussion." During our interview, Condou described his inner thoughts, from the idea of wanting to become a dad, to figuring out how to do it as a gay men in the UK at the time. "As I got older and realized that I want to do it sooner rather than later," he said, "surrogacy wasn't a thing then, gay men couldn't adopt then, certainly single gay men couldn't adopt. So co-parenting was something that, it wasn't even a word, but it seemed like the best option to me. I'm going to have to find a female friend who wants to have children with me. Of course in my naive early 20s mind I thought 'yeah that'll be fine, somebody will want to have a kid with me, you know, who wouldn't?!' I did not realize that a lot of straight females-- it's not their first choice." "I started to have this conversation with girl friends of mine, just in a very vague kind of 'what if'? And I had one friend in particular, Cathrine, who said, 'yeah, I wanna be a parent, and if I'm still single at 40 then, yeah. Let's get on with it.' It was a bit of a joke, because why would she still be single at 40, but she was." Gay Dads in the UK: Co-Parenting "We sat down and said, ok, let's talk about it then. How would it work? We didn't know anybody who did anything like this at all. It was a completely new territory. So we talked about every eventuality, all the possible scenarios. What happens if someone moves to Australia? I don't know why even, but we talked about it. And I knew very quickly that if I was going to co-parent, it had to be 50-50. I didn't want to be a dad that is just around every other weekend." At some point during the conversation with Catherine, Charlie met his now-husband, Cameron. Early in their relationship Charlie had told him about his plans with Catherine and Cameron was on board. "And then it became the three of us, and the conversation had to change a little, because how does that work, with three parents? What will the three of us bring? How do we navigate that?" The Three of Us - Charlie's Column in The Guardian "It works really well," Charlie says, "We have the kids completely half and half, and that's the way that it's worked for a long time. Catherine has them on a Monday and a Tuesday, we have them on a Wednesday and a Thursday and we alternate weekends. And that works really well, because it means that we'll get time off, which means that we are not exhausted and strung out, and we don't get snappy and ratty with them, because we never get to the point where we think 'Oh my god I just need a break', because we get a break, and Catherine gets a break, and the kids get a break from us." "I'm not saying it's ideal and it's an ideal situation, of course. There are pros and cons, but I genuinely believe that the pros of our situation outweigh the cons." While many gay men co-parent with female friends they have already known, there are co-parenting dedicated websites where you can set yourself up with a profile with the intend to find co-parents. Adoption and Foster Care for Gay Dads in the UK Adoption stages in the UK: Enquiry Stage Stage 1 - check you and your home (2 months) Stage 2 - assessment meetings and training (4 months) Approval (panel) (about a week) Family Finding - matching you with a child (6-12 months) Placement Over 65,000 children across the UK. Every year thousands of foster families needed. Learn more about becoming a foster family in the UK. Also, The Fostering Network is a non-profit organization that brings together everyone who is involved in the lives of fostered children.  Surrogacy for Gay Men in the UK Surrogacy agreements are not enforceable by UK law and surrogates are the child’s legal parent at birth. If the surrogate is married or in a civil partnership, their spouse or civil partner are the child’s second parent. Legal parenthood can be transferred by parental order or adoption after the child is born. Surrogacy: legal rights of parents and surrogates (gov.uk) Men Having Babies Similar to South Africa, only local residents can benefit from surrogacy domestically; and similarly to Canada, surrogates are not formally compensated. A lot of these elements of the British system are currently under review. There is a law commission that is getting a lot of feedback, but as it is now, and because of these limitations, many gay parents choose to leave the United Kingdom and pursue surrogacy elsewhere. Check out Men Having Babies website Sign up for the Men Having Babies upcoming conference in Europe Our Guest: Charlie Condou Charlie Condou is a British actor, columnist and LGBT rights activist. Condou secured a series of television movie roles during his teenage years in the 1980s. He later had guest roles in British television series during the 1990s. In 2007, Condou gained wider recognition when he took on the role of sonographer Marcus Dent in the soap opera Coronation Street, which he remained in until 2014. He also played the role of Ben Sherwood in the medical drama Holby City. Condou has used his fame as a platform to promote LGBT rights, becoming a patron for charities and being an advocate for same-sex parenting. Organizations Stonewall's guide for gay dads Pink Parents Two Dads UK NHS website Gay Dads in the UK: Related Articles and News U.K. Couple Welcomes Baby Girl via Surrogate in the U.S. Now, They're Fighting to Be Legally Recognized as Her Parents (People / April 28, 2026) Intended parents should get legal status from birth, says British surrogacy review (The Guardian / March 29, 2023) Gay dad explains the simple truth of being a foster carer: ‘It’s hard, but I feel lucky’ (Gay Star News / March 7, 2022) Gay Scots couple say children have 'never questioned' having two dads (Daily Record / March 5, 2022) Men can do anything women can, so why shouldn't I have an IVF baby on my own? The single 56-year-old law lecturer who spent £200,000 to fulfil his dream of fatherhood (Daily Mail, March 4, 2022) How 'family' is being redefined for the modern world (BBC, February 21,2022) Gay cop and married dad of two opens up on LGBT life at Police Scotland (Daily Record, February 15, 2022) As a gay Asian man, I never thought I’d be a dad to two wonderful boys (Metro, October 7, 2021) Not all gay men want to adopt – don’t judge me for wanting my own kids (Metro, August 21, 2021) Two gay dads on the reality of starting a family through surrogacy (The Times, January 2021) Phillip Schofield announcement: How it feels when your partner comes out as gay (Coming out after having kids) (BBC News, February 2020) Phillip Schofield comes out as gay, saying on live TV Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuest: Charlie CondouOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereArticles Related to this episode:My Problem with the Phrase Openly Gay (Charlie Condou, Attitude Magazine)Charlie's gay icon: Princess JuliaYan's gay icons: Sonia, Jennifer Saunders, Lisa Scott-LeeListen to previous seasons of Daddy SquaredJoin our Facebook groupConnect with us on Instagram

Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast looks at gay rights and fatherhood options in Denmark. We talked with Danish singer songwriter Bryan Rice to get a taste of what it’s like being a gay dad in Denmark, and researched options for gay men who want to become dads. Rainbow Family is the term used in Denmark for families with one or more LGBT persons in an immediate family. Our guest in this episode, singer and songwriter Bryan Rice, is a prominent example of a rainbow family, as he co-parent his daughter with his husband, Mads Enggaard and Mads' high school (straight woman) friend. "I feel it's quite common here, I don't feel special," Bryan says. "There is a common sense that families like mine are just as much families like others'. we have so many different types so this is just, as I call it, a happy divorced family. We don't have the baggage that often divorce families have." "Liv, [Bryan and Mads' daughter] has a mother who also live here in Copenhagen as well, who is an old friend of my husband Mads, so they have known each other since they were in high school and I have known her for all the time I know Mads, so we are a Rainbow Family." Liv's mother came to the couple when she was about to reach 40, and said that she had no boyfriend and she reached a point where she wanted to have a kid and she wanted to know if they wanted to be the fathers. "When we started talking about the project, we talked about how to start when the kid is born, what do we do at a certain age, when do we start splitting, when will she start to have one or two nights at our place without her mother," Bryan recalls. "We have what we call a child contract, and that is quite common here. The contract is based on our thoughts about how we are supposed to do it but also based on knowledge from other couples." Brian comes from a little town outside of Roskilde in Denmark. He came out at 17 "it has to do with a lot of things," he says, "in my surroundings it wasn't a problem to come out, and in my family I didn't really come out. To me it was just a matter of saying, 'I'm bringing home my boyfriend.'" Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast returns for season 4, Around the World, to capture gay dad options and rights in a post-pandemic world. In each episode, Alex and Yan, a married couple and fathers of five-year-old twins, talk with gay dads from a different country, discussing equal rights and options for gay men. Co-parenting in Denmark As far as parenthood options for gay men, Denmark is a "co-parenting culture." The majority of gay men tend to go with the co-parenting route, either with a woman friend who they know, or through meeting women on matchmaking websites that are specifically for creating Rainbow Families (see links below). In these websites you can search for other people who also want to become parents and are looking for one or more co-parents who share the dream to have together a child who knows both his biological parents. In the co-parenting model, all parents involved take part in the child's everyday life, development, etc. Surrogacy in Denmark Surrogacy is illegal in Denmark, therefore men who want to do it have to travel, most go to the USA, for their surrogacy journey. "I think that it is a quite strange that surrogacy is illegal in Denmark," Bryan said in our interview, "because Denmark has been on front of every other legislation in the LGBT area. We're very liberated country but still on this issue we're very much behind." "I feel that the politicians are almost afraid to talk about this subject, because they know that it's a problem that we are so much behind in Denmark but because it has to do with women's rights they are reluctant of raising this issue." Once you come back to Denmark with your baby, the biological father will have to prove genetic relations through a simple paternity test, in order for the kid to receive Danish citizenship. Adoption in Denmark Though gay men can adopt in Denmark legally, this is the least common parenting route gay men choose in Denmark. The main reason is: within Denmark there's an average of 5-10 kids for adoption, and International adoption is just less common. Adoption on FamilieretshusetAdoption in Denmark on Faktalink Our Guest: Bryan Rice Bryan Rice is a known pop singer and songwriter in Denmark. His debut single "No Promises" was a huge hit in Denmark in the Autumn of 2005/spring of 2006. Bryan received his first gold record for the sale of 20,000 copies in Denmark, and platinum for more than 13,000 downloads of "No Promises". Furthermore, Bryan was nominated "Best Danish Male Singer" at the 2006 Zulu Awards. Since then he released 5 albums, all of which are now available on Spotify Bryan is also the man behind the famous Instagram gay dads account Two Dads World Wide. Men Having Babies Ethical Surrogacy. One of the first things that MHB did as organization is to gather a group of surrogates and to come up with what we call Ethical Framework for surrogacy. In most of the countries in Europe surrogacy is either illegal or much more tightly controlled than it is in countries like in United States, and some of the reasons for that are based on a real fear on the part of the people and the governments of these countries that surrogacy can be abused and abusive. Organizations DARE Denmark - a non profit organization that works in the area of surrogacy in particular and of equality for LGBT parenting in general Co-parenting Matchmaking websites: regnbuebarn.dk regnbuefamilie.dk https://karentherkelsen.com/foraelder-speed-matching/ Gay Dads in Denmark: Related Articles and News The government considers allowing surrogacy in Denmark (The Copenhagen post / December 5, 2025) Denmark Passes New Pro-Surrogacy Regulations (Above the Law / February 2024) Denmark Threatens To Deport Surrogate-Born Children (Above The Law, February 9, 2022) Denmark’s family law paves the way for rainbow families (Local DK, 2019) Surrogacy – Far, dad og børn (out & About, 2018) Gay couple become first to adopt from abroad (The Local DK, 2014) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkjDBLK4Msc Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex Maghen, GregGuest: Bryan RiceOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereArticles Related to this episode:Axel Axgil on Wikipedia (Bryan's choice of a Danish gay icon)email usListen to previous seasons of Daddy SquaredJoin our Facebook groupConnect with us on Instagram

Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast looks at gay rights and fatherhood options in Germany. We talked with German stage actor and blogger Kevin Silvergieter (AKA "Papapi") to get a taste of what it's like being a gay dad in Germany, and researched options for gay men who want to become dads. Despite Berlin's reputation as one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world, it's surprising to know that Germany is not as tolerant for LGBT parenting as one might think. Not only is there a lack of visibility for gay dads in the media, gay men report discrimination in adoption and the general attitude towards them raising kids. "Still there are a few parts where I’m like ‘um, we live in Germany and it’s 2021 and are you kidding me?!'," our guest in this episode, famous blogger Kevin Silvergieter, tells us, "do I still have to deal with that as a gay man?" Until 2017 gay marriage wasn’t even legal in Germany. There was something like ‘written partnership by law.’ "With us not being able to marry we were not able to adopt kids as couples." Kevin explains. "We still have [discrimination] in quite a few areas of German law. For example, blood donation is not allowed for gay men because our behavior raises the risk of HIV, which is, of course, ridiculous. They did come up 5 years or so ago with a law that gay men can donate blood if they haven’t had sex for 12 months." With adoption, it's really rare for gay men to be selected, according to some testimonials, because of a strong preference by the authorities and the birth parents to give kids to heterosexual families. "I don’t want to call it discrimination but it’s kind of odd that we’re not good enough for adoption but the agencies will placed very troubled foster kids with us," Kevin says in the interview. Foster Care is definitely more common for gay men than adoption. "I know that there are a few gay couples who were closer by age more than my husband and I and they adopted 6 years ago," Kevin says. "They both have been a better match for the authorities than we have, so one of the dads adopted and then three years ago when the law changed the other one could adopt them as well. Also, overall, there are not many kids available for adoption. The ratio is 10 heterosexual parents waiting for every one kid, and on top of that one gay couple. And the biological parents can decide with the authorities together where to put the kids and most of them prefer to place their kids with heterosexual couples." Kevin and his husband were reluctant to go with the Foster Care route because of fears for growing close to a child only to have them taken away. He was surprised to find out that there was a 'permanent foster route,' where he can get a court document that affirms that the kids will stay with him. "In April 2014 I called Foster Care and asked for an interview to see if this option really doesn’t fit us or we just didn’t know enough," Kevin tells us. "I just thought that if we don’t hear it first-hand we can’t really rule it out. So we started, and then in September 2015, after a long, long road with lots of paperwork and talks with psychologists (a process which was really frustrating at the time, but which I now appreciate for the extreme care involved), our son moved in. Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast returns for season 4, Around the World, to capture gay dad options and rights in a post-pandemic world. In each episode, Alex and Yan, a married couple and fathers of five-year-old twins, talk with gay dads from a different country, discussing equal rights and options for gay men. Foster Care in Germany Foster Care is currently the main option for gay men. In recent research of types of parenting for gay men, it was found that 54% of families with gay dads were created through Foster Care. The main difference between Foster Care and Adoption is that parents or guardians with custody must be involved in important decisions made by the foster family. Because of these dependencies on external actors, a foster family becomes somewhat of a public family whose private life is overseen in institutional contexts. Foster parents have to learn to deal with this to a certain extent. More input on gays as foster parents. Adoption in Germany The issue of same-sex couples adopting children is full of conflict. Even today, many voices, especially in politics, are heard about not trusting gays to raise children. In 2013 Angela Merkel said that she was uncomfortable with the idea of ​​adoptions. “I'm unsure about the best interests of the child,” she said. In July 2015, the Berlin CDU rejected a majority of marriage for same-sex couples. To this day, Germany has made it very difficult for homosexual couples to adopt a child. Most of the domestic adoptions of gay fathers that we know are resulted from a previous foster relationship. In Germany, it is difficult for same-sex couples to start a family through adoption. That is why gay men increasingly choose the path of adoption abroad. The number of countries that are giving children to single men for adoption is currently very low. Multiple Parenthood Germany More and more gay fathers are trying to realize their desire to have children together with heterosexual or lesbian women in a multi-parent family. Several people come together here because they share their lives with children and want to take responsibility for them together. In addition to checking a possible fit, there are many uncertainties that need to be removed. This requires a differentiated exchange of ideas about upbringing, how to deal with possible conflicts as well as needs and claims in questions of closeness and contact with the child, as well as information on the legal situation. The legal situation of this multiple parent constellation is difficult, as there can only be two parents legally in Germany. For the mostly three to four expectant parents, the question always arises of where legal parenting should be mapped. As long as there is no legal framework in Germany that can represent a multiple parent constellation on an equal footing, such a family constellation always harbors legal risks beyond the personal challenges. All agreements under private law are based on the trust and honesty of those involved. Surrogacy in Germany Surrogacy is illegal in Germany and gay men who decide to have a biological kid have to go abroad to go through surrogacy journey, mostly to America. Our Guest: Kevin Silvergieter An actor and a blogger – in his blog, papapi.de, he gives insights into his family life with his husband and their two foster children. The blog received the 2017 "Special Award for Corporate Citizenship" of the parent Blogger Awards of the textile company Ernsting's Family. With a definitive lack of visibility for gay dads in the media, Silvergieter is one of the most known gay dads in Germany at the moment. Men Having Babies The pandemic has created people focusing their journey on a more specific geographic region and looking to avoid travel and unnecessary trips, tryong to be efficiant in time and keep things as close as possible. For a lot people it slowed down their journey or even put everything on hold or evaluating when it is absolutely necessary to be in a place and and when things can be done in a different way in a way that hasn’t been done before. Most commonly we see it when people want to ship their samples and not go to the IVF clinic in person. Organizations LSVD – the gay and lesbian associationfamilyship.org Gay Dads in Germany: Related Articles and News Zwei Väter für Susana und Luke (Der Tagesspiegel, August 26, 2019)On the Other Hand, Being Fathers is Great (German) (Der Tagesspiegel, 2016)Gay Couple Becomes First in Germany to Adopt Child (DW, 2017) Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuests: Kevin Silvergeiter, Lisa SchusterOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereArticles Related to this episode:'American Song Contest' on screens in 2022Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley - Herrey's (Yan's Eurovision Favorite)Diva - Dana International (Yan's Eurovision Favorite)Yan's Eurovision Corner on Instagram ReelsListen to previous seasons of Daddy SquaredJoin our Facebook groupConnect with us on Instagram

Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast looks at fatherhood options for gay men in South Africa. We talked with South African Power Couple Andrew and Brent (who are responsible for the first ever Primetime gay kiss on South African TV) about parenting options and rights for gay men in South Africa. South Africa was pretty much at the forefront of human rights for the LGBTQI+ community. During the apartheid era, homosexuality was a crime and that was written into the law until 1994. Because of the African National Congress (ANC), the freedom fighters, and people who had really fought for democracy, equality, and human rights, they have passed laws that made homosexuality legal and shortly after also brought same-sex marriage to the South African constitution in 1996. Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast returns for season 4, Around the World, to capture gay dads options and rights in a post-pandemic world. In each episode, Alex and Yan, a married couple and fathers of five-year-old twins, talk with gay dads from a different country, discussing equal rights and options for gay men. By 2002 the Constitutional Court gave the right for same sex couples to adopt, and that was written into the Children's Act in 2005. So adoption is legal for gay men in South Africa, surrogacy is legal too, and there's no difference in the application process whether you are two dads or a mom and a dad. And in Andrew's case, even marrying a woman and having kids with her is legal :) Andrew and Brent have been co-parenting their two children with his former wife. "I don't believe that I would ever have imagined that I'd meet someone with children already," Brent says. "I didn't think that it'd be part of my life's journey, but when I met Andrew the first night we went on a date, I knew he was the one, I knew that this was the guy for me and yes, we spoke about the fact that he had kids on that first date. He was very upfront about the fact that he had kids, and I didn't let it disturb me, because I thought, I like this guy, I think that this relationship can go somewhere, maybe kids can be a bonus. Maybe having kids around can actually add value to my life." Adoption in South Africa South Africa the only country in Africa to allow LGBT adoptions. There are approximately 1.8 million adoptive children in the country so if you want to start a family through adoption you would follow these steps: Orientation session where all the details are explainedFill out the application form and send it to the agencySet up a personal profileApply for a police clearance certificateUndergo psychometric testingAn interview with a social workerAn interview with a panel of social workersHome visitFinal ApprovalWait for "the call" that matches you with a baby More info about adoption Surrogacy in South Africa In a country with high unemployment and high poverty rates it's so easy to exploit the legality of surrogacy. The law is there to protect against that, and to have surrogacy in the country in the most ethical way possible. Surrogacy in South Africa is highly protective of surrogates – surrogates are not allowed to get paid, and every surrogacy journey has to have a valid agreement that is approved by the court. There are a number of formal requirements when a woman considers becoming a surrogate in South Africa. The surrogate and her husband/partner must firstly be domiciled in South Africa. Read more about the South African requirements/laws on surrogacy Many of the gay men who go through surrogacy in South Africa do use a surrogate who has some form of connection to them, whether she is a friend or a distant relative. "Of the four people that I spoke to, and this obviously not statistically valid, all four of the surrogates were personal friends of the gay couples," Andrew says on Daddy Squared. Our Guests: Andrew Ross and Brent Lindeque Power Couple Andrew and Brent have been together for 13 years, and best known in South Africa from the TV reality show My Kitchen Rules. Brent is a journalist, best known for his GoodThingsGuy.com website, reaching over two million visitors a month, and his Cliffcentral show. He first made a splash in 2014 when he created the RAK initiative, aimed at giving back and helping those in need, which became a global phenomenon. An entrepreneur, thought leader, and MD for two agencies, and a former musicals actor, Andrew works around the world in the fields of sponsorship, brand activation, experiential marketing and social media. Related: Forget About New Year’s Resolutions: This Year We’re Setting Intentions! (Brent Lineque) Gay Dads in South Africa: Related Articles and News The Journey of Surrogacy: 2 Dads and a Lad (JacarandaFM, October 5, 2021)Single fathers can now legally register a child born through surrogacy in SA (2021)Single father of baby born via surrogacy wants to be allowed to register daughter’s birth (2021)A court has refused to approve a surrogacy agreement between a gay couple and a woman – because one of the men is still in the closet (2017) Men Having Babies MHB has developed a framework for ethical surrogacy principles, protocols and best practices for intended parents. Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuests: Andrew Ross and Brent LindequeOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereArticles Related to this episode:The Urine Brick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNSgQ7rAYZ0 Listen to previous seasons of Daddy SquaredJoin our Facebook groupConnect with us on Instagram Gay Icons from South Africa Evita Bezuidenhout (Pieter-Dirk Uys)Evita Bezuidenhout is a fictitious Afrikaner drag queen created by Pieter-Dirk Uys in the 1980s, using satire to overcome apartheid censorship and criticize the state. The character was imagined as the wife of an apartheid cabinet minister, she became the South African ambassador in the fictitious black homeland republic of Bapetikosweti. She interviewed Nelson Mandela on national television in 1994, addressed parliament in 1999 and is now a member of the ruling ANC. She has her own political party, Evita’s People’s Party, which focuses on voter education. Pieter-Dirk Uys regards her as his premier clown in the struggle against fear, racism and political correctness and says: ‘Just because she doesn’t exist doesn’t mean she’s not real’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxOx-jolllE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEuLFlvX-KE

Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast looks at fatherhood options for gay men in Canada. We talked with actor Brad Harder Arychuk, a father of two, about being gay dads in Canada in a post-pandemic world. Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast returns for season 4, Around the World, to capture gay dads options and rights in a post-pandemic world. In each episode, Alex and Yan, a married couple and fathers of five-year-old twins, talk with gay dads from a different country, discussing equal rights and options for gay men. Canada is was referred to as the most gay-friendly country in the world, when it was ranked first in the Gay Travel Index chart in 2018, and among the five safest in Forbes magazine in 2019. Our guest in this episode, actor Brad Harder Arychuk, says that despite the general acceptance, there is still a long way to go. "We live in Vancouver, it's tremendously gay friendly," Brad says. "People don't look at you at all being a gay family, but I grew up in rural Alberta in a farming community and that definitely wasn't the same sentiment, and unfortunately still isn't. All my extended family is still there, and I don't [go back there]. Because there's no reason for me to go back, unfortunately. Unfortunately it's not an option. Gay rights and gay freedom in Canada have come so far and I'm so glad that we are such a beacon for LGBTQ rights and representation globally. But we still have a long way to go." In terms of parenting, both adoption and surrogacy are available for gay men in Canada. Brad and his husband Graham tried to adopt before they finally had their kids through surrogacy. "There hasn't been a moment when I pictured myself not being a parent," he says, "and I know for my husband it was a different journey but we just kinda got to talking about it before our wedding in 2018, we've heard from other friends that with adoption it takes a while, we actually looked at adoption first. "We really wanted to have a newborn and so we did pursue and set up some meetings with a few adoption agencies locally. It seemed like a viable route but there were so many things about it that we just couldn't control. First of all the number of newborns in our province is extremely low and the waitlist for newborns is something around 3 or 4 years and there's a few hundred people on the list. So we decided to also look at surrogacy." "When you become a parent the rollercoaster ride of learning at the beginning is so intense that sometimes you feel like you're going to be in it forever and before you know if you're out," Brad says. Adoption in Canada There are three types of adoption available for gay men in Canada: Public AdoptionThe Children’s Aid Society connects children living in foster care homes with adoptive families. (Cost: $0–3000 CAD) Private AdoptionAgencies who work with birth parents to match children with adoptive parents. (Cost: $10000- 20000 CAD) International Adoption Agencies who work in other countries. Surrogacy in Canada The surrogacy process in Canada is very similar to that in the United States although Canada follows what's called an altruistic model, which means that surrogates are not actually paid, but they have their expenses reimbursed. Generally those are set out in your contract and then there are expenses on top of that.Once the baby arrives there is a post-order, Declaration of Parentage, and you go to court and you have the surrogate's name removed and both fathers names put on. "When we created our embryos that was in a private medical clinic, some of our screenings and some of her screenings were done in any of our public clinics which we didn't have to pay for," Brad said on the podcast. "Other than that when they implanted the embryo and the meds that went with that - that we had to pay for but everything else, all the checkups but then, once you're pregnant, everything is paid for." If you are bringing the baby home from another country you might have to talk to international lawyer and find out what you need to do when you arrive back into your own country. Co-Parenting in Canada Read the story of Matthew Pearson from Ottawa, who, together with his husband Alain co-parent two children with lesbian couple, Karin and Janette. Our Guest: Brad Harder Arychuk Brad Harder was born on March 7, 1985 in Alberta, Canada as Bradlee Harder. He is an actor and assistant director, known for The Christmas House (2020) and Aurora Teagarden Mysteries (2015). Married in 2018 and assumed his husbands last name and is known as Brad Harder Arychuk. Their son, Kael Cedric Arychuk also plays his son in the movie "The Christmas House". View this post on Instagram A post shared by Brad Harder Arychuk (@bradharderarychuk) Canadian Organizations Egale Canada: Surrogacy, Parenting & Money, Legal Q&ABC Council for FamiliesGay fathers of TorontoLGBTQ Parenting Network Canada Gay Dads in The Canada: Related Articles and News Gay men have equal parenting rights in Canada — but not equal access to parenthood (The Conversation / May 10, 2026) Gay father-to-be files human rights complaint alleging IVF discrimination (CBC News / March 28, 2023) Cindy Pelletier, a Canadian who carried a baby for a gay couple from France talks about surrogacy (Feb 8, 2021) Men Having Babies Men Having Babies holds conferences on surrogacy in the U.S and Canada several times a year. The next conference is in mid May. Men Having Babies Canada On facebook Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuests: Brad Harder Arychuk, Frankie NelsonOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy here View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Gay Dads Podcast (@yanirdekel) Listen to previous seasons of Daddy SquaredJoin our Facebook groupConnect with us on Instagram Gay Icons from Canada Dan Levy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8yBkZ1cZSw Céline Dion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1Hn2Ytjhbs

Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast looks at fatherhood options for gay men in The Netherlands. We talked to writer, former politician, and actor, Boris van der Ham, a father of two co-parenting with lesbian moms, about being gay dads in the Netherlands in a post-pandemic world. Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast returns for season 4, Around the World, to capture gay dad options and rights in a post-pandemic world. In each episode, Alex and Yan, a married couple and fathers of five-year-old twins, talk with gay dads from a different country, discussing equal rights and options for gay men. In 2001 The Netherlands was the first country in the world to recognize marriage for same sex couples. With that the option for same sex couples to adopt jointly and with stepchildren opened. "When I became a dad and I told people - even very progressive people - they said, 'oh, I thought you didn't want that.'" The thought was that if I was gay it meant that the family "lifestyle" was not for me and that what I was really looking for was to party all the time. "We are now going into a new phase, in which you have the right to be different from other people. The next step is that you can be different in being different as well. So some [gay men] want to party their whole life, like straight people can do too, and others want to have another way of life. The diversity of gay men is now coming to the surface. With religious gay people, non-religious, different kinds of religion, kids, no kids… " Paul de Leeuw was one of the first famous gay men in The Netherlands to have kids through adoption. "That was, I think for me also, an eye opener because I thought to myself, 'is this possible?'" "There's a gay version of the famous TV reality show The Bachelor [in The Netherlands], called Prince Charming. And this gay guy and the guy he chose at the end, they are still a couple, were asked in a lot of interviews 'do you want to have children,' it became a very normal question to ask gay people, and I think for me, I'm 47 now but if I was in my teens developing my sexual identity I would have been helped a lot that the option that you can have children when you are gay is visible." Adoption The Dutch Parliament began allowing same-sex couples to adopt children overseas in 2009. Currently, it's only allowed to adopt from the Netherlands, the USA, Portugal, and South Africa.  You must first register with the Ministry of Justice, which places you on a waiting list. After completion of the compulsory courses by both partners, there is a family survey. If all of this has been found to be okay, you will receive a permit for adoption in principle. For more info on adoption (in Dutch) visit www.justitie.nl, www.adoptie.nl, www.anewway.nl Surrogacy Surrogacy is possible under certain circumstances in the Netherlands. However, promoting (commercial) surrogacy is prohibited. In concrete terms, this means that prospective parents are not allowed to place an appeal or advertise that they are looking for a surrogate mother and - vice versa - for a prospective surrogate mother who is looking for prospective parents. Wish-parents are allowed to look for a surrogate mother within their own circle, for example from friends and family members. Compensation can be given for costs incurred by the surrogate mother. For more information, see the National Government . Co-Parenting The LGBT organization Meer dan Gewenst (see below) runs a classifieds ad section for people who are looking to co-parent. See it here. Examples for co-parenting agreements and more info can be found here Our Guest: Boris van der Ham Boris van der Ham is a Dutch writer, humanist, former politician, and actor. In 2002 he became a member of the House of Representatives and later became the president of the Humanistisch Verbond (Dutch Humanist Association). In 2016 he began pursuing his passion in the entertainment arts. In the musical Ciske de Rat, he did the voice-over of the Dutch version of 'The Secret Life of 4 year olds [nl]'. In 2018 he returned to the stage in the Dutch adaption of Kwame Kwei-Armah's play 'Beneatha's Place'. Last year he released his debut album (in Dutch). Organizations Meer dan Gewenst organizes informative meetings on legal, social, medical, and scientific aspects of LGBT parenting.  Pleegzorg.nl Foster parenting organization that works together with parents before and through foster care. Gay Dads in The Netherlands: Related Articles and News Roy en Corné worden vader! De manier waarop is uniek in Nederland (de Gelderlander, 2021)Nauwelijks verlof voor LHBTI-ouders: 'Dochter met zes weken naar de crèche' (RTL Nieuws, 2020) Men Having Babies Corner Is surrogacy right for you? How Men Having Babies assists prospective parents in navigating the options. Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuest: Boris van der HamOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereRelated links to this episode: Known Sperm DonorListen to previous seasons of Daddy SquaredJoin our Facebook groupConnect with us on Instagram Gay Icons Willem "Wim" Sonneveld was a Dutch cabaret artist and singer. He died in 1974, and still to this day is considered one of the 'Great Three' of Dutch cabaret. Sonneveld is generally viewed as a Dutch cultural icon for his work and legacy in theatre, musicals and music. Sonneveld was gay, though not openly as it would have been unacceptable during that era. He shared his life with various men throughout the years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMGTZP_wiMc Netherlands win Eurovision 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09NdgwARzw0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXOqK4Au5nA

Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast looks at fatherhood options for gay men in Sweden. We talked to European Parliament Member, politician Tomas Tobé, to look at Swedish laws for LGBTI people in general and gay parents in particular. “Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast” returns for season 4 to capture gay dad options and rights in a post-pandemic world. In each episode, Alex and Yan, a married couple and fathers of five-year-old twins, talk with gay dads from a different country, discussing equal rights and options for gay men. It was in the 1970s when it was declared that homosexuality was not a disease in Sweden. Still to this day surrogacy for gay men (and in general) is illegal. "The door for [gay men to become parents] is adoption. Adoption for gay couples has been legal for many years, but it's not easy and very rare," Tobé explains, "I know a lot of people who tried to find arrangements with other friends or other couples and to solve it that way. [Me and my husband Marcus] tried to find other solutions to create a family and for us surrogacy in the U.S. was the best option." "It was important for us to work with an agency that has been doing it for many years and they were really cautious in making sure that the surrogate was not in some kind of financial need." Surrogacy is very debated in Sweden. "You have voices coming from both the left and the right," Tobé says. "People are saying that the surrogacy ban is about protecting women, that is one side of the argument. But on the other side there's people argue that if it's a choice and you can have it in a good way then it should be fine. Sweden has been a very progressive country when it comes to gay marriage, gay adoption and the values in society but when it comes to surrogacy it's not going forward. I don't see it moving forward for at least 10 years. Something needs to happen in the political debate about it." Adoption Most adoptions in Sweden are transnational, as domestic adoptions are rare (simply because of low numbers of children in the system). With transnational adoption, the first transnational adoption to a Swedish male couple occurred in 2017, and since then very few same-sex couples have been able to adopt, partly because of the limited access to foreign organizations that accept same-sex adopters. Read more on Swedish Gay Men’s Pursuit of Fatherhood by Anna Malmquist & Alexander Spånberg Ekholm. Shared Parenting Arrangements Previously, shared parenting arrangements have been a relatively common route to parenthood for LGBs, but since lesbian couples gained access to ART in Swedish healthcare, they typically choose to raise the children on their own. Read more on Swedish Gay Men’s Pursuit of Fatherhood by Anna Malmquist & Alexander Spånberg Ekholm. Swedish Organizations that Help Gay Dads RFSL - Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Gay Dads in Sweden: Related Articles and News Dad speaks of his amazing international surrogacy journey (Yahoo News, March 3, 2022) Äntligen hemma! ”Vi vill tacka QX-läsarna för alla donationer (QX, 2020) Janne och Wesley fick barn med hjälp av surrogatmamma (Dagens Nyheter, 2019) Our Guest: Tomas Tobé Tomas Tobé is a Swedish member of the European Parliament since 2019. He lives outside Stockholm with his husband Marcus and his twin daughters (via surrogacy). Born on 16 February 1978 in Gävle, Sweden, Tobé was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2019 and is the Chairman of the Committee on Development and Member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. He is a Substitute Member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and also belongs to the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights. Prior to being elected to the European Parliament, he held various positions in the Swedish Riksdag since his first election in 2006. These include positions as Chairman of the Committee on Justice, Committee on Education and Committee on the Labour Market. He was the Secretary General of the Moderate Party between 2015 and 2017. Men Having Babies Corner Many in our community are citizens of at least one country other than the country in which their child is born. They may both reside in Europe for instance, and the baby is born in the USA or Canada. Or they are a binational couple residing in the USA, and wish their child to be eligible for foreign citizenship of one of his fathers, and perhaps even move there later on. The time to think about these issues is well before the start of the surrogacy journey, and the help of attorneys who are familiar with the laws in all of these jurisdictions is a must. Webinar Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuest: Tomas TobéOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereListen to previous seasons of Daddy SquaredJoin our Facebook groupConnect with us on Instagram Gay Icons Gay Icons from Sweden talked about in the show: Christer Björkman - Swedish singer and television producer. He represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992 with the song "I morgon är en annan dag." Since 2002, he has been a producer of Melodifestivalen, and remained an important figure in Melodifestivalen and the Eurovision Song Contest. He steps down from his position in 2021. Charlotte Perrelli - Swedish singer and occasional television host. She was the winner of the 1999 Melodifestivalen and subsequently that year's Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Take Me to Your Heaven." Since then she has released seven albums and multiple singles. She is one of Sweden's most popular female singers, often performing at Sweden's top shows. Throughout her career, she has worked with different types of music, ranging from dansband and schlager, via modern pop, to soulful ballads and jazz melodies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_iSoluR53U Alcazar - a Swedish nu-disco group. Alcazar is one of Sweden's most successful music groups both nationally and internationally with a string of hits since their debut single in 1999. Worldwide, Alcazar sold over 12 million records between 2001 and 2004. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTWXSGuQKxU TV Shows Brainchild (Netflix)From germs and emotions to social media and more, it's the science of the world explained in a way that's refreshingly relatable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2WK7PjeVYs Glitter Force (Netflix)A tiny pixie recruits a group of five preteen friends to defend Earth from fairy-tale villains. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZImUyiFetc

On the Season Premiere of Daddy Squared Around The World we're checking to see what's life like for gay dads in France. We spoke with Aurelien and Nicolas, stars of the documentary Ghosts of the République, we look at stigma in surrogacy and try to figure out the options for gay men in France to build their families. In the first episode, Yan and Alex look at options for gay men in France, with guests Auerlien and Nicolas, starts of the US/French documentary ‘Ghosts of the Republique.’ France is one of many European countries which is considered progressive and supportive of the gay community, in general. But in the category of gay parenting, there are some serious complications. French law not only bans all surrogacy (for straight and gay people) in the country, but also ‘punishes’ parents who go through surrogacy abroad by refusing to recognize the children as their parents’ legal children. “The punishment is for the child and that’s why it’s really weird that France has been condemned by the European court many times, I think 12 or 13 times, because the only person who has difficulty because of these policies is the child, who does not have the same rights as any other French child,” Aurelian says in the interview. “Right now people are still fighting for the rights of these children who are already living in France.” 'Ghosts of the République' No More According to Dominique Boren, co-chair of APGL, the situation has changed dramatically since the documentary. "Surrogacy is banned in France (even inciting to engage into surrogacy journey) punished by fine and even time in prison," Boren says. "However, to my knowledge, NO ONE has ever been subject to prosecution and even less faced trial. The main goal being this non implemented law is to refrain promotion in France of surrogacy (which is quite effective with almost no surrogacy agencies holding promotion or marketing event on their services, in France." "Since 2015 (due to our family case settled by French supreme court) no kid has been left outside of French system, and to my knowledge, progressively, all hurdles have been left. As for the parents, French legal system does recognize automatically at least one of the parents as 'real' parent (mainly the one of the parents who decides to identify himself as declared parent), the dilemma is for the second (same sex) parent. If the parenting rights acquired in the country of birth are deemed to be as per French adoption rules, then the second parent is granted same rights as the 'real' parent, through a legal process referred as exequature. Almost a formality.If not, and this is mostly the case, and will become the rule after law on access to IVF for lesbians and single women will become effective, then the second parent MUST (be married to the other parent) make an application to a family court to be granted status of adoptive parent with all parental rights attached thereto. to date, this legal process is quite simple and lean but takes time and money, and I must is meant to refrain surrogacy or least prevent from being "simple." "Kids are not punished as such, it is rather the second parent who is facing discrimination (legal discrimination) as to establish his legitimate and rightful status of 'true' parent as the other parent. So imperfect and discriminatory though it is, at the end of day, kids do have their parents with equal rights." Adoption "Contrary to what is a common practice in the USA, France does not have foster care system and adoption regulations," Boren says, "and processes are fully in the hands of public administration and a collective board (in each department… more or less a state, in short) composed of representatives of various organizations, and until recently, no LGBT families NGO was present in any of the board, and APLG is to date the only NGO with representatives in few boards. (In practice, civil administrators prepare fills for adoption on behalf of applicants and submit such selected application to each board, who makes the final selection)." "Since 2014 (same sex couple marriage law) hundreds of gays (mostly) and lesbians have applied to be authorized to fill in an adoption application, nearly all of them succeed in getting such ok, but only very few become adoptive parents (less then 100 …). It is cleary a major issue to be improved." French Organizations that Help Gay Dads APGL - The Association of Parents and Future Parents Gays and Lesbians ADFH - Association des Familles Homoparentales Gay Dads in France: Related Articles and News Top court rules France must recognise children born from surrogacy abroad (Reuters / July 2026) Trump's Policies Tried to Tear This Gay Father and Son Apart — The Dad Won (The Advocate / April 5, 2022) Adoption: une proposition de loi pour en faciliter l'accès aux couples homosexuels (December 2020) As same-sex couples in France try to adopt, conservative forces push back (July 2018) Adoption row in France as official says gay people should be given ‘the children no one wants’ (June 2018) French Gay Dads Win A Surrogacy Victory (July 2017) Our Guests Nicolas and Aurelien, a gay couple from France, are in the center of the new documentary, Ghosts of the République. Confronted by France’s conservative surrogacy laws, the couple decides to exhaust their last option by traveling to Las Vegas to start a family of their own through international surrogacy. Through the lens of one family, the film demonstrates the extreme lengths many gay couples go to have children, while highlighting the ever-expanding and controversial surrogacy industry. Nicolas and Aurelien’s story is unique in that it is a portrayal of the same-sex experience in creating a biological family through surrogacy, a technology developed in the 1980’s becoming more and more commonplace each year. This technology is one that has not only brought hope to couples who struggle with infertility but also to couples who struggle with equality. But while it is a source of hope for many, surrogacy also raises ethical considerations with various legal implications across the globe. Men Having Babies Corner Lisa Schuster, GPAP Program Director at Men Having Babies and a former surrogate, talks about stigma and stereotype in surrogacy and how to deal with it when raising your child. It's important not to hide your child's birth story. Upcoming MHB Events April 19, 2021 - Member Webinar - Preparing for Birth: Bonding with Your Baby.  From pregnancy to toddlerhood, learn about what promotes bonding, how dads bond with their babies, and what is (or isn't) important for forming that bond. Learn more 2021 West Coast Surrogacy Conference, May 15-16: For gay men who want to become parents through surrogacy, the MHB educational conferences are a rare opportunity to get curated information, expert advice and access to a wide range of relevant service providers — and from an unbiased non-profit organization. Register here Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuests: Nicolas and Aurelien, Lisa SchusterOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereListen to previous seasons of Daddy SquaredJoin our Facebook groupConnect with us on Instagram

Alex and Yan look back at the three seasons of the show. Daddy Squared: The Gay Dads Podcast first aired in September 2018. Since then we have done three seasons, a COVID-19 thirty-day challenge and a Pride 2020 episode. This extended episode gives you a taste of what the podcast is all about using clips of stories and moments from the three seasons of the show Your Gay Dads Hosts Yan Dekel, an independent web designer and social media manager, and Alex Maghen, a Technology executive at Warner Bros., are a married couple, living in West Hollywood, California with 4.5 year-old twins. Alex, a U.S. native and Yan, an Israeli immigrant, have been together since 2007 and got married in 2013. They talk openly about their relationship and couples therapy, combined with examining who they are as gay men, as individuals and as parents. In each episode they bring a guest and tackle an issue that arises in parenting in general and in gay parenting in particular. What's New in IVF Technology? Ask your doctor about how the Embryoscope offers a significant increase in pregnancy outcome. Time-lapse technology allows for continuous embryo assessment and reduces stress on the embryos during culture. These factors improve the selection of optimal embryos and increase pregnancy outcomes. This revolutionary IVF breakthrough increases pregnancy rate and live birth rate, decreases pregnancy loss rate. Embryologists use the EmbryoScope as a tool for the selection of the most optimal embryos by analyzing greater than 5,000 images for each embryo. Time-lapse monitoring was associated with a significantly higher live birth rate. Episode Sponsor Dr. Mark Surrey is a true ally when it comes to IVF and surrogacy for gay men. We chose Mark as our sponsor as part of our quest to help future dads to have the best experience (and best results) in their surrogacy journey. Please hear Dr. Surrey’s opinion on your specific journey as part of your research on surrogacy. It’s important to get the best consultancy possible before getting into this journey. Fill in your details below to get the Daddy Squared “VIP Care” consultancy from Dr. Surrey‘s team. Ask Dr. Surrey a question: [contact-form-7 id="2703" title="Contact form 1"] Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenDaddy Squared Opening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy hereAir Date: July 21, 2020 Listen to previous seasons of Daddy SquaredJoin our Facebook groupConnect with us on Instagram 🇩🇰 De homoseksuelle dads podcast er bragt til dig fra West Hollywood, Californien. Det er til homoseksuelle mænd, der er far, der overvejer at blive far eller for dem, der gerne vil kigge ind i de homoseksuelle fars liv. 🇳🇱 De gay dads-podcast wordt je aangeboden vanuit West Hollywood, Californië. Het is voor homomannen die vader zijn, die overwegen om vader te worden of voor degenen die graag een kijkje willen nemen in het leven van homo-vaders. 🇫🇷 Le podcast des peres gays présenté de West Hollywood, en Californie. C’est pour les hommes gays qui sont papas, qui envisagent devenir papas ou pour ceux qui aimeraient jeter un coup d’œil dans la vie des papas gays.🇩🇪 Der Podcast für schwule Väter wird Ihnen aus West Hollywood, Kalifornien, gebracht. Es ist für schwule Männer, die Väter sind, in Betracht ziehen, Väter zu werden, oder für diejenigen, die einen Blick in das Leben schwuler Väter werfen möchten.🇯🇵 ゲイのお父さんのポッドキャストは、カリフォルニア州ウェストハリウッドからあなたにもたらされます。それは、父親であるゲイの男性、父親になることを検討している、またはゲイの父親の生活をのぞきたい人のためのものです🇰🇷 게이 아빠 팟 캐스트는 캘리포니아 웨스트 할리우드에서 가져 왔습니다. 아빠가되는 것을 고려하는 아빠 인 게이 남성 또는 게이 아빠의 삶을 들여다보고 싶은 사람들을위한 것입니다.🇳🇴 De homofile pappapodcastene blir brakt til deg fra West Hollywood, California. Det er for homofile menn som er pappaer, vurderer å bli pappaer eller for de som vil kikke inn i livene til homofile pappaer.🇷🇺 Подкаст отцов-геев доставляется вам из Западного Голливуда, Калифорния. Это для геев, которые являются отцами, которые собираются стать отцами, или для тех, кто хотел бы заглянуть в жизнь геев-пап.🇲🇽 El podcast de papás homosexuales llega desde West Hollywood, California. Es para hombres homosexuales que son papás que están considerando convertirse en papás o para aquellos a quienes les gustaría echar un vistazo a la vida de los papás homosexuales.🇸🇪 Gaypappapodcasten kommer till dig från West Hollywood, Kalifornien. Det är för homosexuella män som är pappor, överväger att bli pappor eller för dem som vill kika in i homosexuella pappas liv.

As gay parents, we educate our kids on diversity by showing them that there are many different people in the world, and many types of families. But when is the right time to also teach them that there are people in the world who treat each other poorly just because of the color of their skin or their sexual orientation? How do we as gay dads (and allies) raise children who will fix the world? The Pride 2020 episode, on race and human rights, is now available. Pride 2020 was supposed to be swallowed by the coronavirus pandemic, but then came a Black Lives Matter civil rights revolution which got us all out of our homes and our closets and into the streets with our very old quest for true civil rights equality. Our Guests Rev. Alfreda Lanoix Renowned Motivational Speaker, Rev. and Author, Alfreda "Freda" Lanoix, has been a mover and a shaker her entire life. Fearlessly truthful and extraordinarily insightful, she views the world through a multi-faceted lens of laughter and self examination. Freda married, gave birth to a son and daughter, gradually accepted her sexual orientation, and ultimately was ordained in 1995 as an openly lesbian minister for Unity Fellowship Church of Christ. Freda is currently in demand as a workshop facilitator, keynote speaker, lecturer, conference trainer and guest panelist. Among a host of appearances, she was featured in a Logo Network special entitled "True Lives", which focused on her experiences as a black, lesbian mother; featured in a documentary called "Finding God In The City Of Angels"; and was guest on the public affairs radio program "Revolutionary Spirituality". Thomas J. Pier, Therapist Los Angeles-based therapist, Thomas Pier, offers in-person and online (throughout California) supportive therapy to individuals and families in all realms of Health, Healing and Life Transitions. Thomas provides individual, family and group therapy in person and through encrypted video conferencing. Thomas lives in Los Angeles with his husband of 28 years, Russell, and with their son and daughter (through adoption), ages 6 and 8. Silky Nutmeg Ganache We all remember Silky from last year's season of RuPaul's Drag Race (Season 11). The performer, whose original name is Reginald Steele, is originally from a well-educated family in Mississippi, he holds a master's degree in organizational leadership, and the drag started a a giggle for Steel and and turned him into an international success. Ganache guest starred in Germany's Next Topmodel, in Lizzo's music video for her mega-hit 'Juice', and is set to star in her own series on WOWPresents Plus series entitled Shantay You Pray, a series exploring Ganache's relationship with religion. Our Sponsor Dr. Mark Surrey is a true ally when it comes to IVF and surrogacy for gay men. We chose Mark as our sponsor as part of our quest to help future dads to have the best experience (and best results) in their surrogacy journey. Please hear Dr. Surrey's opinion on your specific journey as part of your research on surrogacy. It's important to get the best consultancy possible before getting into this journey. Fill in your details below to get the Daddy Squared "VIP Care" consultancy from Dr. Surrey's team. Ask Dr. Surrey a question: [contact-form-7 id="2703" title="Contact form 1"] Episode Credits Co-Hosts: Yan Dekel, Alex MaghenGuests: Rev. Alfreda Lanoix, Therapist Thomas Pier, Silky Nutmeg GanacheOpening Theme: Hercules & Love Affair, “Leonora” buy here Listen to previous seasons of Daddy SquaredJoin our Facebook groupConnect with us on Instagram

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: On the last day of our quest to interview 30 essential worker dads in 30 days, we caught up with Rick Pagnillo from New Jersey who works at Kessler Rehabilitation Center. Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Joey Martin is a Funeral Home Manager at Jessen Funeral Home in Indiana who raises three kids with his husband. Joey Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads https://youtu.be/HAo_LxJzALw

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Ron Rife, a husband and a dad of an 18-year-old who works at Amazon warehouse in Ohio, talks about working for the giant online sales store during CoVID-19. Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Kevin Karr-McGraw works for Regeneron in New York, making coronavirus drug. Kevin at work Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Michael Stokes, a therapist at Stokes Counseling Services in Connecticut talk about life, work and anxiety during the pandemic. Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Elio is a nurse at a Military Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, who raises seven kids with his husband David, a teacher. Elio at work Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: David, a social worker in Oregon, talks about the challenges in his line of work during the pandemic. Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Nick, a liquor store stock manager and husband Sean, a grocery store manager, are very essential during CoVID-19 pandemic. Nick at work Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic:  Todd Calhoun is an anesthesiologist in Toronto, Canada, who had to live apart from his husband and kids due to daily exposure to CoVID-19. Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Ray Lipinski is a lab technician that manages test results reports -- including CoVID test results. Ray at work Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic:  Georges Sylvestre delivers babies of CoVID-positive patients in New York. Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Doug Hove with the Seattle Police Department faces new work challenges during the CoVID-19 pandemic. Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Alexander Morton-Adams, a pilot for United Airline, has more medical supply than passengers during CoVID-19 pandemic. Alex at Work Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Blair Miller turned his home office into a studio, and then his son came in to tell him that the pizza has arrived during a live broadcast. Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Jonathon Miller is a paramedic in West Virginia and a dad of three with his husband Blair. "I've been a paramedic now for 20 years, I've seen a lot in 20 years, I responded to the Pentagon on 9/11, I've been in Guatemala and delivered a baby, I've been in Mission trips there, I've delivered babies in the back of a cab, I've held family members' hands when their loved ones is taking their last breath--but nothing prepared me for CoVID-19." Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Romain Taillandier at the Las Vegas Fertility Center faced the problem of babies being born when their parents are locked out of the U.S. Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Eric Maisel is a Post Office manager in Georgia, who has to make sure mail is delivered even to homes of CoVID-19 patients. Together with husband James, Eric has 5 kids through both men's previous marriages. All of his kids are grown up and have left home, nevertheless the couple worry about them during these times of global epidemic. Eric at work Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Stevey Pope-Allred is a dad of an 11-month old baby who faces CoVID-19 patients at his job as an E.R. Nurse. Stevey is joined by his husband, Micah, in this interview. The couple's personal surrogacy journey inspired Micah to become an ultrasound practitioner. Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Dr. Chad Martins is an Internal Medicine Physician and a CoVID team member in a hospital in Georgia. Chad (on the right) with his husband and their daughter Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Emmanuel Pantoja is a Family Nurse Practitioner in Texas. Emmanuel at Work Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Steven Scott is a Cardiac Nurse in Georgetown, Massachusetts. Steven at work Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic:  Drew Cronyn, a Primary Care Pediatrician in Tucson, Arizona has only one goal--keeping young children away from hospitals and ER rooms as much as possible at this time. Dr. Cronyn at work Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Zachary Schellhase is in charge of maintaining the safety of nurses and patients who are exposed to CoVID-19. Zachary at work Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Jadore Mattis is a registered nurse in New York City who had to isolate himself from his husband and son due to daily exposure to CoVID-19 at work. Jadore at work in NYC Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time. Click here for the full list of dads

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Single father Romayne Pollard organizes a Soup Kitchen in Chicago. Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time.

A daily dose of gay dads on the front lines of the global pandemic: Dr. Eli Diamond works with cancer patients during COVID-19. Every day we call one gay dad who is an essential worker, and ask him the same questions: how has his changed during the pandemic, how it effected the family, and so on. These are bite-size episodes (“podcast extras”) that are designed to show the world the contribution of members of the gay dads community during global crisis like this. We are very sensitive to all those who have suffered first hand from the virus, but we also want to try to change the energy and point the silver linings of this very special period in time.