Get ready because these photos may have the power to melt even the most frigid of hearts.
Two new dads, BJ Barone and Frankie Nelson, wept tears of joy as they welcomed their newborn baby, Milo, into the world. And Canadian photographer Lindsay Foster was there to capture the entire thing on film.
“I had the opportunity to photograph this amazing birth on June 27th for a surrogate and two expecting and anxious daddies,” Foster tells Buzzfeed. “Hours were spent with them in the hospital room while the surrogate mom was laboring and I got to know them quite well.”
She continues: “They are two compassionate people who felt all the emotions that every new parent feels. They asked all appropriate questions of the birthing mom and the midwife and educated themselves as best as they could for their son’s arrival. I am so proud of these two dads.”
Milo was born via an unrelated surrogate. The surrogate did not use her own eggs and, Foster says, was “very happy to have given this gift” to the two fathers. In the photos the men are shirtless because skin to skin contact is believed to be very beneficial for a newborn baby.
Since Foster shared the photos on her Facebook page, they have received nearly 40,000 “likes” and over 6,000 shares.
Dad Frankie commented: “BJ and I want to thank you for this amazing gift you have [given] us!! We can not thank you enough for capturing the most amazing moment in our life!”
See the amazing pictures below. And view more of Lindsay’s work on her website.
Check out these other adorable photos of gay dads and their kiddos.
Merv
Nice photos. I’m not quite sure why they are shirtless.
Charlie in Charge
@Merv: I was wondering the same thing myself. Was it that hot in there?
masc4masc
Uhhh it says, “In the photos the men are shirtless because skin to skin contact is believed to be very beneficial for a newborn baby.”
Try reading more than pictures, guys.
Qjersey
Look what we just bought! Surrogacy is indulgent for the parents and exploitative for the surrogate. There are far too many kids out there needing homes. And don’t bitch at me that “adoption is more expensive.” So is your friggin taste in everything else.
DB75
@Qjersey: One has to be extremely bitter to attack one’s ways of making a family and not offer at least a congrats on the happy event.
I’m just curious – how many children have you adopted?
masc4masc
@Qjersey: I agree. It does seem a bit self-serving for all three. It’s nice that the surrogate was “very happy to have given this gift” to these guys, but how about the gift of her presence as a mom for the child? But congrats to the happy couple on their motherless child.
stranded
@Qjersey: I agree, but then again, I’ve always been open to the idea of adoption. I don’t think some people are. Though i don’t agree with them, i’m not going to shame them about their honest feelings. I don’t think it’s exploitative for the surrogate, how can it be? If its an agreement between the both of them.
Spike
@Qjersey: As an adoptee, I find your choice of words to be incredibly insensitive and offensive. The choice to become a parent is all about love and taking responsibility for another humans life, how one becomes a parent, is none of your business. Shame on you.
Apparatus
Ugly crier.
Stefan
Looks like some circuit bois wanted a baby.
michael77092
“Uhhh it says, “In the photos the men are shirtless because skin to skin contact is believed to be very beneficial for a newborn baby.”
Try reading more than pictures, guys.”
Yeah but breast feeding and eating the placenta is supposed to be very beneficial also. I’m sorry, these guys did not just birth the child. This story could be so heartwarming and inspirational, but instead it’s creepy because they chose to get “trendy” and have the moment archived by a photographer.
Now go ahead and slam me for being homophobic, but go look up 30 million photos of women who just biologically gave birth to their children and find me one of the father in the birthing room with his shirt off.
SteveDenver
@Qjersey: Whomever stirs the sh!t should be made to lick the spoon. You’re a stinking leaking ass.
Congratulations to these dads and baby Milo (according to the photog’s FB page). What an awesome gift for the surrogate mom to give.
Matt
Their breeding and seeding didn’t work so they used a surrogate. Nothing wrong with adoption.
robho3
Gosh, many of the comments on here are so mean… why all the hate? I, myself, thing its a touching photo and wish the new family well. So many nasty, bitter queens in the gay community.
Maude
Somebody told them that skin contact was good for their baby, so they did it.
It can’t hurt, so where’s the problem?!!
Or maybe they just wanted to feel the flash of their newborn…so what.
I cannot find a thing wrong about this. Not A Single Thing!
pilotmanjoe79
I think the pictures are unbelievably beautiful. Congratulations to them and their beautiful baby!!! As me and my husband begin the journey to start our family the road is long and the choices are difficult. The Adoption vs Surrogacy choice is difficult to make. Some people strongly desire a biological connection to the baby, others want their child to resemble them. Others choose to adopt and love their baby just as much as if he/she was a biological child. We chose to try the surrogacy route because I don’t think we could handle going through an adoption process just to have the birth mother change her mind after the baby is born (which happens 50% of the time). It would break our hearts. Having children as a gay couple is such a selfless act and the love so great to want to create a family. I’m humbled by the raw emotion that these men shared with us through their photos. I wish them a lifetime of happiness with their new child!
orcanyc
Very sweet and may the whole family be blessed.
Noxema Jackson
@masc4masc: There’s nothing in the article that says whether or not the surrogate will be part of Milo’s life. And ask JonBenet Ramsey or the Yates kids how they feel about moms. Oh, wait. You can’t.
AlphonseElric
Lovely comments everyone, though I’m surprised no one has (yet) disparaged the tattoos. Are all the uptight queens on vacation? Get to work people!
Noxema Jackson
@AlphonseElric: We’re waiting on Qjersey to do that.
Mezaien
What obvious is that most of the HOMOS on Qeerty, are not parent or have children.
masc4masc
@Noxema Jackson: What a misogynistic comment. By that logic, kids don’t need fathers either if you look at all the dads that have killed their whole families before offing themselves. A surrogate’s purpose is just to birth the child. They don’t typically stay around to be mothers.
MMDD
@robho3: Not really. Only on this site.
hotshot70
I am apalled at all the negative comments. This brings the stereotype “bitter queens” back! A loving family has been created. It should be praised. If a-holes like Kim Kardashian can have an ugly baby with an ugly father and give it an ugly name, why not let a happy gay couple have a beautiful baby. Shame on all you haters who posted here!
technicolornina
@pilotmanjoe79: Gosh, because no children who have already been born are just floating aimlessly around our foster system with no parents in the picture, wishing they had a permanent home instead of being shuffled from place to place when fosters are quite often uneducated on the needs of these children. I have a few friends with foster siblings. It rarely turns out well for the foster siblings, not because foster parents are garbage (although some are) but because so often kids in the foster system have special needs that foster parents are either uneducated on how to handle, or are not adequately informed about by the system.
But nooooo, it’s not “really” parenting if you didn’t change diapers and give bottles. Right?
Tackle
@hotshot70: Your comments are just as bad as the ones here directed at the gay couple. I’m no fan of Kim Kardashian, but I’m sure that she and West will love their baby, jast as much as the gay couple, and a grown man who goes after an innocent baby: by calling her ugly and saying she has an ugly name ( she doesn’t) and calling the father ugly and the mother an A- hole, besides being a hater, is also a negative, bitter queen.
@robho3: Some of the posters here are thr same people. They like using different names.
Noxema Jackson
@masc4masc: My post was in response to the previous poster saying the child would be motherless.
Geoff B
My Mom just sent me and the fiancee this story on Facebook. Love the woman to death but she’s about as subtle as a louisville Slugger upside the head. It came with a little note “just in case you guys felt like giving me a grandchild with 2 legs”.
Sebizzar
Really, negativity in the comments even over a family?
I’m happy for everyone in the story 🙂
DickieJohnson
Why is it that hateful, bitchy [email protected] can never keep their F*ckin mouths SHUT? This is such a joyous & blessed event, but what comes out? Nya nya nya! A$$holes.
Geoff B
@DickieJohnson: If you think this is bad, check out some of the comments on Buzzfeed.How this could possibly drive people to say such over the top horrible things is beyond me. I mean with all the hate and violence in the world a couple overjoyed at the birth of their son is not something any sane person gets outraged over. At least the majority of posters called them out on it so there’s that.
Dxley
He, Queerty, some of us are here to read relevant articles on real gay men, not some old queens crying over a pathetic child. I’m sorry but I find nothing cute about children and this is no exception even if they’re a gay couples. You said something about “Amazing Photos”, where the fuck are they? This crap is tedious.
sejjo
@Dxley: You don’t like children? Why did you click on this article then? It contains the words ‘photos’ and ‘newborn’ in the headline. You could’ve just skipped the article and spared us your half-witted comments, like so many other oxygen wasters on this comments board.
Dakotahgeo
@Qjersey: Oh, Oh… somebody needs lovin’ here. Sad sack!
Dakotahgeo
@Dxley: Talking about tedious… and you show up! You never have anything good or nice to say. Don’t you get tired of staying in your basement with your building blocks and Playdough??
Dxley
Shut up, bitch! We’re all entitled to an opinion!
randeman
I’m not the least bit surprised about all the lame-ass bitching from some of you people. A lot of hateful, bitter, resentful queens in the world who aren’t happy unless they shit in someone’s Post Toasties. Who needs Republicans when we have some of you guys around?
Dakotahgeo
@masc4masc: You asshole! At least the little one HAS PARENTS! Damn the stork that brought you!
Dakotahgeo
@DB75: Thank God, I hope NONE!
Ben Dover
Actually I’m surprised. I was expecting the comments here to be meaner & bitchier. I was expecting something more like “self-absorbed yuppie scum” – an actual comment by a Queerty poster recently (in another context).
I read Queerty for… well, the entertaining typos and non-sequiturs in the articles, of course, but mostly to see the bitchy & snarky comments – NOT to lament how mean & bitchy the “gay community” is! As if the “gay community” were going to collectively read your pious admonishments and suddenly start changing its/our evil awful sarcastic ways.
@Dxley: Hell must have frozen over because I’ve never agreed with you before, you evil pr!ck. But hey – is that one ugly baby? This reminds me of that “Seinfeld” episode. “Ya gotta see the baby!” “BREATHTAKING!”
Dakotahgeo
@randeman: AMEN! I’m ashamed to be gay/homosexual because of some of these steam room trolls/old queens!
Ben Dover
@Dakotahgeo: Yeah, like you’re a saint, Pastor Dak, you’re a mean bitch most of time here too! “Take the log out of thine own eye.”
Stache99
@masc4masc: Nice to see that you and NOM think the same way ie misogynistic pigs. I’ve known two families of dads as parents raising both girls and boys. Nothing was lacking as they were all doting fathers.
MarionPaige
This reminds me of that video of Joan Lunden having her new born handed to her while she was in a hospital bed. The baby was carried and delivered by a surogate so, why was Joan Lunden in a hospital bed? The shirtlessness looks weird when no one else is showing skin in the photo. Plus, where is the photo where both guys puked because the baby smelled like pussy?
Dxley
@MarionPaige: LOL!!!
LadyL
Congratulations to the happy new dads… and welcome, little one. Best to you all in the eventful years to come.
Teratronius
Why does everything have to turn into a stunt? People having kids is brilliant but why pander? Even if their original intent wasn’t to pander it ultimately turned into that. I can find this picture on countless right-wing websites. Websites that spew vitriol without end. People just need to live their lives and let common sense alter the opinions of the bigots. Not everything needs to end up online. Our best chance of making it is to just be absorbed into the humdrum reality that is the human existence.
masc4masc
@Stache99: This has nothing to do with marriage. You’re the misogynist since you believe mothers are unnecessary.
maxlovesrio
Congratulations! What heart-warming pictures! I with you all the best.
Paco
Beautiful! Congrats to the happy fathers!
E T
Hating gay men for doing what straight people do every day – passing on genes – is internalized homophobia. What do marriage and surrogacy have in common? Both are awesome when they involve two consenting adults. On another note, ‘queen’ and ‘bitch’ as insults is an older generation’s norms. Misogyny is dumb and outdated.