The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Gay Couple Display Their Teen Children on British TV; Viewers Not Impressed

Posted on | August 30, 2016 | 2 Comments

Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow with two of their surrogate babies.

Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow became famous in 1999 as the first British gay couple to become parents through surrogacy. The Drewitt-Barlows have made a fortune through their British Surrogacy Center (BSC), a controversial “rent-a-womb” business.

The BSC is part of the commercial surrogacy industry, which women’s rights groups have criticized as a form of human trafficking that exploits women in developing nations as human incubators to hatch designer babies for wealthy clients in Britain, the United States and Europe. Reuters reported in 2013 how embryos were created via IVF, using eggs and sperm harvested from the parents or from donors, then implanted in the wombs of surrogates hired in India for $6,500 to carry the babies to term. One clinic based in Mumbai “has produced 295 surrogate babies — 90 percent for overseas clients and 40 percent for same-sex couples — since it opened in 2007.” Since then, India has banned commercial surrogacy, as have Nepal and Thailand, but the industry has moved its operations to Cambodia and other countries in search of poor women to serve as hired baby-makers. Swedish feminist Kajsa Ekis Ekman has called surrogacy “reproductive prostitution.” A 2012 report from the European Center for Law and Justice condemned surrogacy as a “violation of human rights,” yet the Drewitt-Barlows and their lucrative baby business continue to be celebrated by many in British media.

In 2014, a British TV network launched The Parent Makers, a reality show about the Drewitt-Barlows and their business, featuring the couple’s five children, Saffron and Aspen, now 16, Orlando, 12, and Jasper and Dallas, 6 — all of whom were born to surrogate mothers in the United States.

This week, the Drewitt-Barlows have been on a P.R. blitz, with media features about the two oldest children who just turned 16, receiving such gifts as a Porsche and a Rolex watch for their birthdays. Today’s appearance on the British ITV network program This Morning, however, did not go so well, because viewers noticed the glum faces of the two teenagers who appeared with the couple they call “Dad” and “Daddy.”

 

They appeared on This Morning today to mark the teens’ 16th birthdays, but Aspen and Saffron did not look happy to be there.
Nasty trolls pointed out that the kids barely cracked a smile during the chat, and called them out via Twitter. . . .
One posted a picture of Saffron’s face, writing: “Smile? #ThisMorning” another added: “#thismorning the attitude on that 16 year old girl…”
A tweet added to the site stated: “Someone tell that 16 year old girl to crack a smile…” and it was followed by: “Those twins look so happy, the girl had a face like a smacked ass and the boy looks like he strangles cats…”
Several other trolls branded the twins “spoilt brats”, insisting their wealthy dads may have been overattentive while the kids were growing up.
One wrote: “Another batch of stupid parents trying to buy love from their equally stupid, ungrateful kids ???? #ThisMorning”
Another added: “Level headed? They seem like miserable spoilt little brats… @itvthismorning #thismorning.”

Viewers especially noticed daughter Saffron’s grim face with comments like, “She is so miserable looks like she wants to murder someone.”

 

 

The Drewitt-Barlows have been criticized as rich bullies. In 2013, the couple sued the Church of England demanding religious recognition of same-sex marriage. In 2014, when an Australian activist named Luke McKee criticized the Drewitt-Barlows’ baby business, he received an email in which Barrie Drewitt-Barlow boasted “my vast wealth and contacts will crush anyone” who opposed him.

UPDATE: ‘Trailer Trash’ and ‘Crazy Bitch’: Surrogate Mom Claims Abuse by Drewitt-Barlow




 

Category: Gays

Comments

2 Responses to “Gay Couple Display Their Teen Children on British TV; Viewers Not Impressed”

  1. ‘Trailer Trash’ and ‘Crazy Bitch’: Surrogate Mom Claims Abuse by Drewitt-Barlow : The Other McCain
    August 30th, 2016 @ 6:49 pm

    […] the rest at the Sunday Mail. The Drewitt-Barlows were in the news again today when they appeared on a British TV program with their own now-16-year-old twins, Aspen and Saffron. Critics have called the commercial surrogacy industry a form of human […]

  2. FMJRA 2.0: Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues : The Other McCain
    September 3rd, 2016 @ 8:30 pm

    […] Gay Couple Display Their Teen Children on British TV; Viewers Not Impressed EBL@RedState Adam Piggott […]