I have never been a fan of Gilmore Girls, and I can confidently say I never will be. Why?  Because Gilmore Girls hates surrogacy.

As a physician, I believe that research is the best way to keep the discussion around surrogacy objective, leading to policies and regulation that are based on science and not opinion. Last November, the first study of its kind was published that followed surrogates 20 years after their journey to evaluate their psychological health and contact with the families they helped. At Gay Dad Reporter, I feel it’s important to summarize and share new science and research about IVF, surrogacy, and all those involved in these journeys.

Kevin Timms is a new gay dad who talked with me about his path to fatherhood, the surprises of surrogacy, and his dedication to surrogacy transparency for other intended parents (IPs).

Italy is the only country in the world that bans international surrogacy, and they have made it a crime punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine of up to 1 million Euros.  This is the culmination of years of work against gay and lesbian parents in Italy. While the law has been in place since the end of 2024, as of January 2026, no one has yet to be persecuted for it.  However, gay Italian dads who underwent surrogacy in the United States are too afraid to return to their home country for fear of persecution. How did Italy get to this extreme of anti-surrogacy?  Based on my recent trip, I think it started about half a millennium ago.  

My husband and I are back home in Stockholm and severely jet lagged.  It was an intense and incredible trip to California for our first embryo transfer. During the trip, I kept daily notes to capture how I/we were feeling for this historic stage in our journey.  This article is a summary of those notes to document this time for us and our future child. We will find out tomorrow (December 4th) on my actual birthday if our amazing surrogate is pregnant.  I could not think of a better birthday present, but if this transfer doesn’t take, it is still an integral part of our journey.  We want our child from this or a future embryo to know how exhilarating, nerve-racking, and amazing this process was to bring them into the world.

Ever get anxious that things are ‘too good to be true?’ It turns out that experience is called ‘happiness anxiety,’ and I have developed it during our surrogacy journey. I’m a doctor, and I had never heard of happiness anxiety before.  It seems counter-intuitive.  After all, if you are happy, then why are you also anxious? In this article, I discuss my experience with happiness anxiety related to our surrogacy journey and what I am doing to try and deal with it so I can better enjoy the process of becoming a father. 

We are finally at the stage in our journey where we are reviewing the contract between us and the surrogate. The surrogate contract is a dense, complicated, beast of a legal document.  You have to make challenging decisions about who will care for your unborn child if something happens to you and your partner, understand the impossible medical insurance landscape in the U.S, and navigate the evolving medical landscape of what pregnant women can/can’t/shouldn’t do. In this article, I share personal reflections and guidance on the surrogate contract for other gay intended dads on their journey in the U.S.

A recent study used real world data from Ontario, Canada, to compare mental health diagnoses during and after pregnancy between unassisted deliveries, IVF, and gestational carriers. This is a great topic, and more data is needed to really understand if there are unique mental health challenges for surrogates.  Unfortunately, I have several issues with the publication that I will discuss in this article.

What is the experience like for a surrogate or gestational carrier (GC) in different countries? A new publication examines this question, looking at the psychological aspects and studies that have been conducted in the UK, Canada, USA, and India regarding surrogate experiences. I have reviewed this article, and I have added my perspective as an international gay intended dad, physician, and researcher.

A truth known to parents through adoption is closer to being realized by parents through assisted reproduction:  Genetic contribution does not make a parent. A recent scientific breakthrough was covered widely by the media where three adults contributed genetics to a single child:  Cellular DNA from the sperm of one parent, cellular DNA from the egg of another parent, and mitochondrial DNA from a donor egg. Read more to review the science and implications for gay intended and current parents through IVF and surrogacy.

We think we found ‘the one,’ as in the surrogate who will help us to finally become parents. We don’t want to jinx it given our history of matching and unmatching with previous surrogates, but this one feels ‘right.’ Read more to find out how we got to this point, and the lesson for all intended parents of how important it is to try and navigate through their best possible journey.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Shaun Thomas, founder of The Surrogacy Father. Shaun and The Surrogacy Father are completely independent of all clinics, law firms, and agencies, and so he is able to provide an unbiased perspective and support in helping people become parents all over the world. As a gay father of three children through surrogacy in Colombia, Shaun is uniquely qualified for his venture, and in this interview, he shares his approach to intended parents as well as some challenges and successes of The Surrogacy Father.

Our fingers and toes are crossed. We met another amazing potential surrogate. Having two previous matches fall through, we are being extra careful in thinking of all the possible complications of a journey with her. I review the major challenges we could face in this article as we wait for guidance from our legal team on our options and whether we can proceed or not.

The main reason we moved to Sweden was because it could provide my husband and me with a life where we could be parents. The U.S. only allows for parenthood on corporate America’s terms. We wanted a different life for ourselves and our child.

Sperm is important when it comes to rainbow family building, and BabyMoon Family is here to talk about how you can improve your sperm health and fertility as a gay intended dad. Read more to find out how to optimize your sperm prior to IVF and surrogacy on your journey to queer fatherhood.

Following my article giving uncomfortable praise to RFK Jr., I wanted to write about the impact of lower sperm and testosterone levels on gay intended dads. This article looks at the effect sperm health has on fertility and the types of IVF that gay men can consider, with implications on cost and embryo generation.

As our journey to fatherhood progresses amidst some challenging delays, I wanted to take some time to refocus on why we are doing this and write a letter to our future child.

As a physician, Democrat, and bear lover, I don’t support anything RFK Jr. stands for. However, he made headlines last week for talking about the hormonal and reproductive health of American men, and so I had to listen, review, and respond. In this article, I want to review each of these statements, fact check their accuracy, and then discuss what RFK Jr. is actually concerned about when he makes these claims.  

Our second surrogate is now pregnant, but not with our baby. Read more to find out the details as we continue to persevere through this latest and greatest challenge on our IVF and surrogacy journey.

Our surrogate / gestational carrier (GC) has just completed her final medical clearance. In this article, I wanted to review the recommended guidelines for medical screening of GCs in the United States, and compare this to guidelines in Canada and the United Kingdom.