Sgle gay dads give tips for first-time parents: ‘I created the village around myself’

npr single gay dads

A small but growg number of men — gay and straight — are cidg to have children on their own, jt as more women began dog two s ago. Sgle dads say they still face a social stigma but fd parentg emotnally rewardg.

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THREE SGLE, GAY DADS REFLECT ON FATHERHOOD, SURROGACY JOURNEYS

For Father's Day, NPR spoke to three, gay sgle fathers who ma the choice to bee parents via surrogacy. * npr single gay dads *

NPR spoke to three men, sgle gay fathers, who chose to bee dads via surrogacy, after years of g to terms wh their inti, their fai, and the technologil advanc that have ma journeys like this possible.

"At that pot 1994, you didn't see many gays [on] the mp.

So I realized I was gay, but I was like sred, nfed.

SGLE GAY DADS GIVE TIPS FOR FIRST-TIME PARENTS: ‘I CREATED THE VILLAGE AROUND MYSELF’

* npr single gay dads *

But the procs for sgle people, particularly relatively olr gay men, he says, was difficult.

Black, gay and heavyset the South, he was raised by a sgle mother a fay of sgle mothers. DUSTIN LING "Sometim the gay muny is seen as, oh, 's the funny guy who's always about fashn or always about travel, " says Dt Lg.

"Fathers – gay fathers and mothers – e different and var forms, not jt that one-note inty.

WHO'S GAY ON TV? DADS, JOURNALISTS, INVTIGATORS AND FOOTMEN

" Raised on the island natn of Aba to Asian parents, Lg says there weren't many exampl of gay men around.

Dpe the challeng of life as a sgle gay dad New York, Lg remas an optimist. Holt is gay.

Steve Majors, munitns director for the same-sex advocy group Fay Equaly Council, says many young gay men once believed livg openly gay meant not havg children. "Eher you were a heterosexual relatnship and havg children, or you were gay, " Majors says.

‘A FAY LIKE OURS’: PORTRAS OF GAY FATHERHOOD

" But wh the rise of same-sex marriage, gay men have pneered the e of reproductive technology to have children. Majors says sgle gay men now email him or show up at parentg semars, wantg to learn more about startg a fay.

He's gay, but he says half the lls he gets are om straight men.

' " 'I Will Always Be There To Love Them' The Williams Instute, a thk-tank on same-sex issu at the Universy of California, Los Angel, fds there were more than one ln never-married men — both gay and straight — raisg children 2010. And then he kd of fot that he red about the first You know, those - the nservative news works are, among other thgs, pretty homophobic. SEDARIS: Well, I remember a uple of years ago when there was a vote North Carola to make gay marriage unnstutnal.

TV'S DISAPPOTG GAY DADS

I said, you know, my niece - her nt is gay and wants to marry her girliend. And she's - why would she want to marry a gay man, right? But to actually be lockg ey wh Ellen and hold her, shakg hands as she said, "I'm gay, " on natnal televisn and for the first time, as she has shared outloud that way publicly, was such a profoundly extraordary and timate gift to that moment that I will forever be grateful for.

Image: Jackie Molloy for NPR"At that pot 1994, you didn't see many gays [on] the mp. " DUSTIN LING"Sometim the gay muny is seen as, oh, 's the funny guy who's always about fashn or always about travel, " says Dt Lg. "Raised on the island natn of Aba to Asian parents, Lg says there weren't many exampl of gay men around.

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Three sgle, gay dads reflect on fatherhood, surrogacy journeys | NPR Illois .

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