Tom Daley reveals heartbreaking moment when he thought he couldn’t have kids
Daley came out in 2013 (Jeff Spicer/Getty)
Tom Daley has revealed he thought he wouldn’t be able to have children when he came out – and was devastated by it.
The Olympic medallist and his husband, Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, became fathers in June to a son, Robbie Ray Black-Daley, a year after they tied the knot.
But in an interview with The Guardian, the 24-year-old diver admitted that he had no idea it was possible to start a family when, in 2013, he came out on YouTube.
As of June, the diver is a father-of-one (Laurence Griffiths/Getty)
He was 19 then, but had already started preparing for fatherhood. The star explained: “I’ve been shopping for baby clothes for six years, since before I met Lance, since I was 17 or 18.
“There’s nothing I’ve ever been more sure of in my life than having a family.”
But Daley, whose dad Robert died in 2011, said he just assumed that being in a long-term relationship with a man meant giving up his dream of fathering kids.
Daley won gold at the Commonwealth Games this year (Charlie Crowhurst/Getty)
“One of the things I was so mortified about, so upset about, when I came out, was that I’d never be able to have a family,” he revealed, adding that “there’s something so special about passing on what my parents have taught me to children of my own.”
Thankfully the British athlete, who spoke out against laws which criminalise homosexuality in dozens of countries when he won gold at the Commonwealth Games in April, “did more research.”
And he once again defended his and Black’s decision to have a child through a surrogate, which has come under fire from various people in the media, as well as the users of internet forum Mumsnet.
Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black (Chris Jackson/Getty)
“I always flash back to when Kanye and Kim announced they were having a baby through surrogacy,” he said.
“Apparently Kim had some kind of health issue, the first [baby] was all right, and the second, but the third would be a problem. And it was all: ‘Oh my God, isn’t she so lovely having a baby.’
“As soon as it was two men, the narrative quickly shifted. Lance said he expected the backlash to come more from the US than the British press.”
Daley celebrates winning gold at the 2017 World Championships (Clive Rose/Getty)
But despite being castigated by strangers for bringing a child into the world who he intends to love and protect as any father would, he was never in doubt about the choice he and his husband had made.
“We know we are going to love that child more than anything else in the entire world,” said Daley.
Daley has wanted children since he was a teenager (Clive Rose/Getty)
“As a same-sex couple, we have to really want a child to make that child happen. There’s no glass of wine and a pizza, and then the next day, oh my goodness, I’m pregnant.
“You have to really want it.”
