Britain’s first gay dads have revealed they plan to have a SIXTH surrogate baby – and use embryo sex selection to make sure this time it’s a girl.
Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow want to extend their family of four boys and one girl so that daughter Saffron, 12, doesn’t feel outnumbered.
Gender selection is illegal in the UK but the couple have eight frozen embryos in storage in the US, and in a move which will spark new debate about “designer babies”, the controversial dads will have the cells sex-tested to find a female embryo before proceeding with another surrogate pregnancy.
They may even end up with another set of twins.
Barrie, 42, says: “I’m desperate for another daughter – a little girl called Honey. I do worry that we haven’t done right by Saff, not giving her a sister.
“She’s got a lot of female cousins and although she says she doesn’t mind being the only girl I’d like another daughter.
“I’ve really had to talk Tony into it. He says that we’d got enough, that our family was complete, but I know we have eight embryos in that cryo-bank.
“He said we could donate them to someone else – but even though they are only cells at the moment they still feel like my children.
"The procedure is to implant two embryos at once. So, with our record, it could actually be twin girls next time!”
The millionaire Drewitt-Barlows made history in 1999 when they brought home Saffron and her twin brother Aspen, who they’d fathered with a surrogate mum in California.
After a legal battle they were allowed to be registered as Parent 1 and Parent 2 on the children’s birth certificates.
They went on to have another son, Orlando, eight, and twin boys Dallas and Jasper, two.
Barrie and Tony have launched their own British Surrogacy Centre, helping other gay and heterosexual couples and singletons to become parents.
They are rumoured to have advised Elton John and partner David Furnish before they had their surrogate son Zach, although the pair refuse to discuss it.
But they are definitely currently working with Steps star Ian “H” Watkins, 35, and his partner, actor Craig Ryder, 34.
Broody “H” revealed last year they were planning a surrogate baby after giving up on their “painful and intense” plans to adopt through their local authority in North Wales.
He also said they were secretly hoping for twins just like Barrie and Tony.
Barrie, an experienced social worker, says: “We really connected with Ian and Craig because, like us, they had struggled with the adoption process.
"But they went through the same rigorous screening process that all our clients do, before we helped them find the right egg donor and surrogate in the US.
"We have helped more than 35 couples and singles become parents, producing 48 babies, many of them twins – and we’ve just had our 99th pregnancy confirmed.
“Things took a bit longer for Ian and Craig because they were specific about the type of donor they wanted.
“They are both blonde and blue-eyed so wanted someone who looked like them. They wanted her to be intelligent, and preferably artistic or musical.
“But we helped them find the right donor and surrogate and then it was all systems go.”
We are chatting in Barrie’s office in the centre in Maldon, Essex. There’s a huge notice board listing the code names that represent client couples.
Their surrogate’s name is also a code number as is the anonymous egg donors and, if things have got that far, the date their baby is due.
Other walls are covered with pictures of happy clients holding their surrogate babies as well as baby scans at various stages of pregnancy.
So, could one of these codes represent H from Steps’ baby plans?
Barrie smiles but sidesteps the question. “It’s great that Ian and Craig have been so public about their surrogacy journey so far but we would never reveal anyone’s private details.
"All I will say is we are hoping they will have some very good news to announce in the very near future.
“We are actually advising some other famous clients too, but client confidentiality is paramount so I can’t tell you other than to say you’d be surprised how popular surrogacy is with women having difficulty carrying their own child.
"At the moment we are working with a very high profile soap actress but she hasn’t yet decided whether she wants to go public – many stars don’t.”
At this point we are joined by Barrie’s partner Tony, 47, and their attractive, immaculately-dressed brood.
Saffron, Aspen and Orlando shake hands politely while the adorable twins pose happily for photos – clearly already media pros.
And despite the criticism and outrage their parentage has attracted, the kids all seem bright, well-balanced and devoted to each other, “Dad” Tony and “Daddie” Barrie.
But two years ago the Drewitt-Barlows, who have been together for 25 years, were forced to move the three eldest kids to a private school because of bullying – by parents.
Barrie says: “People actually spat at us in the street. There was no problem from the kids at all, just the adults. Tony and I were being bullied, by homophobic parents.
"That’s why we have always tried to keep our journey with surrogacy public to help people adjust to the fact that families come in all shapes and sizes now.
“We’ve somehow learned to cope with dirty looks and comments, but there have been some tough times.
"It would be a lie to say it doesn’t hurt and people can get you down but you have to try to live your lives and celebrate your family.
“Once we received a hand-delivered letter that was really sinister.
“It said: ‘If you spent half a million having a family, how much would you pay to get them back?’ We immediately built a six foot wall around our house.”
Family life was rocked dramatically in 2006, when Tony was diagnosed with throat cancer. He beat the disease and is now out of the remission period, but it forced the couple to reassess their lives.
Barrie says: “It was devastating. I didn’t want to be a single parent and we went to hell and back.
"I knew I loved Tony but never more than when there was a risk of losing him. After that we went through a civil partnership so things would be more secure legally if anything happened.”
Last week, the pair went on Newsnight as part of a heated debate on the subject of same-sex marriage in church.
It is something the couple feel strongly about. Barrie says: “We still dream that one day we will be able to get married in our local church, once the laws on gay marriage change.
"We are a practising Christian family so obviously we’d love to get married in church.”
Barrie and Tony have seen just how much attitudes towards gay couples have changed over the past few years.
Barrie says: “When we had Aspen and Saffron everyone thought we must be a pair of paedophiles. Gay men wanting to be parents – what else could we be?
“We were accused of ‘shopping for the ultimate gay accessory’, which was insulting and very upsetting. We just wanted a family and we have been very blessed to be able to have one.
"That is why we are now trying to help others.”
The Drewitt-Barlow kids all have close relationships with their surrogate mums who have their own families in the States. Rosalind, who had Aspen and Saffron, and Donna, who carried Orlando and the twins Dallas and Jasper.
“The kids all know their surrogate mums and we visit them in the US,” says Barrie. “But some people say it’s not natural to bring up children this way, with two dads and no mum, and think our kids are going to be gay, just because we are.
"That is really ridiculous though. One of my best friends is a vegan but her daughter loves burgers.
“The kids take all that in their stride. Our kids could be gay or straight and we’d love them just the way anyone should.
“I hate to say this, but if I’m honest I would prefer them to be straight but only because that it’s still far easier than growing up gay.
“My gay friends will think that’s a cop out – but it’s how I feel because I’ve been there and who wouldn’t want to protect their child from pain. Hopefully things will continue to get better for everyone.
“I know Saff is far too interested in boys to be a lesbian anyway. When I was her age the writing was already well and truly on the wall!”
For more information on surrogacy go to www.britishsurrogacycentre.com