Brian Dowling has revealed his struggle over the public’s obsession with his daughter’s DNA.
The TV personality and his husband Arthur Gourounlian welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Blake Maria Rose, on September 1st, 2022.
Brian’s sister Aoife acted as their surrogate.
The couple recently released a new book, called Brian and Arthur’s Modern Family, in which they open up about the process of surrogacy, and Brian’s infertility struggle.
The book reveals how they chose to use Arthur’s sample to conceive their daughter, after identifying Brian’s fertility issues.
Taking to his Instagram Story on Friday, Brian further explained why they decided to share who Blake’s biological father is, after they previously wanted to keep it to themselves.
Brian said: “When I go to talk about Blake and Blake’s DNA… everyone was obsessed with knowing Blake’s DNA and who Blake’s biological father is…”
The star revealed that he and Arthur previously refrained from discussing this with the public as he claimed it was “irrelevant” to them.
Brian explained that he finds the topic “tricky” to talk about, and that he never wanted to create a “difference” between himself and Arthur as Blake’s parents.
“All people wanted to know when Aoife was pregnant was ‘who’s the dad?, who’s the dad? who’s the dad’ and… people are not being mean, they’re not being offensive, they’re just being curious and I get that especially as Arthur and I are out there doing our jobs.”
“We’re on here we’re sharing all aspects of our life.”
“I felt like it was never something I wanted to address but then in the book I thought do you know what it’s an opportunity to be honest, to be open,” Brian explained.
The TV presenter said he found out about his fertility issues when they were trying to have Blake, which in a way made it easier for them to choose Arthur’s sample.
Brian said: “It made it easier that way then that we gave Arthur’s sample and not my sample, and that’s still something, I don’t know what it is but you always think that you’re able to have a child, you just thinking that I’m going to be able to have a child that’s what you think, that’s what I thought…
“I was really ignorant and arrogant I think regarding fertility, I was just thinking yeah of course I will be able to have kids of course I am like why can’t I?”
“And then when we got the news that the sample was useless basically – I mean at the time they thought it was a really serious genetic disorder and I’ve had all the tests and It’s not, but I think it’s, maybe it’s from being a man and I am a man is that you just presume you’re able to have kids,” he continued.
Brian also opened up about the laws here in Ireland that don’t see him as the legal father of his daughter – a heartbreaking fact he has had to contend with.
“Blake is my daughter, she’s my daughter and I never want to feel like saying I’m different to Arthur,” he said.
“But sadly in the eyes of the law here in Ireland, I am different to Arthur and I have no rights over my child, and that is something that I still find so triggering and something I still find tricky to talk about.”
Brian’s revelation comes after he and Arthur appeared on Ireland AM recently, where the star opened up about how he is not seen as Blake’s legal father.
In his Instagram Stories, Brian told his followers about the “vile” messages he received on social media after his appearance on the morning show, and that he was “flabbergasted” at the amount of hate he received.
