Brian Dowling has said he is “still coming to terms” with his infertility diagnosis.
The former Big Brother star welcomed his adorable baby girl, Blake, with his husband Arthur Gourounlian via surrogate in 2022.
Yet it was this process of having a baby that revealed Brian’s fertility issues.
Speaking on Ireland AM, Brian revealed how the diagnosis had taken a toll on him, admitting it was something he was still trying to accept.
“The infertility is something I’m still coming to terms with, I’m still embarrassed, I don’t know why,” he confessed.
He went on to say that he feared the possibility of his daughter reading something when she grows up that would make her feel disconnected from him: “The issue of infertility for me is a much bigger issue, and that is of our daughter.
“I don’t want our daughter seeing something when she’s older or reading something when she’s older.”
Brian also revealed his pain in relation to people speculating who baby Blake looked more like: “People would always say to me ‘she’s the image of Arthur’ – that was like a knife in my heart each time people said that because they were unaware of my own issue.”
He added: “The control was taken away from me. But now everybody knows the truth about my daughter’s DNA. My name is not on her birth cert. It’s just my sister Aoife and Arthur.”
The proud father also took the opportunity to vent his frustration about the slow rate of change regarding laws which have restricted his legal rights as a parent.
“Stephen Donnelly said about 45 or 46 weeks ago that there would be a change coming in [regarding parental right and surrogacy],” Brian stated.
“It would be Parent A, Parent B, Parent 1, Parent 2 – that’s not happened.”
