Tan France and Husband Become Dads, Reveal Son Was Born Seven Weeks Early

Queer Eye’s Tan France and his husband, Rob, have revealed that they are now dads – and the reasons Tan couldn’t be present for the birth.

Check out the original story here: Queerty.

The two men revealed in April that they were expecting a child via a surrogate. Yesterday, Tan, 38, took to Instagram to announce their son, Ismail, was born July 10th. However, this was seven weeks ahead of his expected birth. Because of this, he has been in a neonatal intensive care unit (NUCU) for the past three weeks.

“Give our son a warm welcome. Ismail France, born July 10th. He came 7 weeks early, so he’s been in the NICU for the past 3 weeks. But, today, we finally got to bring him home,” said Tan.

“We love him so, so much. Like, fully obsessed. Our Surrogate is doing so great, post-labor, and we couldn’t be more grateful for the greatest gift in our lives.”

On his Bulletin blog, France explained more about his son’s arrival. He posted a journal entry that he wrote two days after the birth, explaining that he had been in the UK at the time.

“This came out of nowhere, on the night of July 10th, 2021. I woke up to my alarm, at 7am, on July 11th (UK time), to a bunch of missed calls from Rob. Rob never calls at night, and texts if he needs me to call him. But, I was completely out of it and called him asking what was going on, not thinking it was probably baby-related. Remember, I was super jetlagged, after traveling to the UK, from our babymoon.”

Husband Rob France is a professional illustrator and pediatric nurse.

“[Rob] told me that about half an hour prior, our son was born. He came 7 weeks early. I couldn’t believe it. I cried so hard, at the thought of not being there for our son’s first moments. I cried because I knew Rob was alone and that he needed my emotional support. I cried because I was so jealous that he was there with Ismail, and I wasn’t.

“The next few hours were a frantic dash to try to get back to America. I got my brother to take me to a place to get a covid test, so that I would be allowed to fly. The Covid testing place doesn’t take walk-ins, but thankfully the guy checking people in recognized me, and made an exception. Yeah, yeah, I used my privilege. I don’t care, I needed to see my son. I would have used anything I could have to get home asap.

“They told me that I should get my results that night or the following morning, which meant that they were expediting it, but that also meant that I couldn’t fly that day. I cried again.”

Getting back to his home in Salt Lake City eventually took two days, as Tan had to wait hours for his test result, and then couldn’t book a direct flight from London, so had to fly to Los Angeles, and then wait another till the next day to fly on to SLC.

Waiting so long to see his son was agonizing, as well as not being there for Rob.

“Thank gosh at least his dad was with him. If he were completely alone, I would have lost my damn mind.”

“I have no words to describe how I felt when I first saw [Ismail], held him, kissed him,” Tan continued.

“I was just so relieved that he was ok. My biggest worry, before seeing him in person, was if he was truly going to be OK. When Rob had FaceTimed me with him, numerous times, Ismail was covered in tubes and apparatus. Now, most of those tubes are gone and he looks so good. Beautiful and strong.”

Tan ended by paying tribute to his surrogate.

“Our surrogate is such a warrior. She gave birth to him in a matter of minutes, and after a night’s stay, she said she was feeling totally fine and went back to normal life. She gave us the greatest gift, and the most immense joy, one could ever give another person. We are so grateful. She’s formidable.”

Many congratulations, guys!

⭒

Check out the original story here: Queerty.

⭒

⭒

⭒

Fun Fact: A study published in 2019 titled “Disintermediating your friends: How online dating in the United States displaces other ways of meeting” found that 65% of gay couples met through dating apps. That doesn’t mean it’s always a good experience, though! This is why we highly recommend premier dating sites like Gay Dating Solutions and My Gay Match.

My Gay Match is a new gay dating site that focuses on matching gay men not only on demographic information but a unique personality measure developed by a psychologist. All members are personally confirmed and carefully screened by their staff to prove that they are real. If you’re looking to find a warm and meaningful connection with interesting and caring singles this is the site for you. The gay dating website is currently offering a free 30-day trial.