Proud daddy Ricky Martin ‘went through a grieving process’ thinking he’d never have kids as a closeted gay man

Ricky Martin has opened up about the “grieving process” he went through when he thought he wouldn’t be able to have children because of his sexuality.

The Puerto-Rican singer-songwriter is now a proud father of four children, but he once believed he would never be able to have a family at all.

“Many years I dreamt of being a father, and many, many, many times I went through this grieving process of, ‘I am gay, I’m a closeted gay man, and I’m not going to be able to be a daddy,'” he told Out.

“Obviously adoption is an option and it’s very beautiful, but unfortunately for gay men it’s very difficult to adopt in some countries.”

The “Livin’ La Vida Loca” singer had his first two children as a single parent in 2008, and went on to have two more with his artist husband Jwan Yosef.

“Listen, I became a daddy when I was 35; it’s not the same thing when you’re 48,” he said, reflecting on the challenges of parenthood.

“You need the energy! And I’m strong, trust me, I’m healthy – I’m carrying two babies at the same time and the stroller and the backpack – but it’s a lot. It’s a big responsibility.”

Ricky Martin isn’t ruling out more children with his husband Jwan Yosef.

Despite this, Ricky Martin said he and his husband have not ruled out the possibility of expanding their family further in the future.

His grandmother had 14 children and many grandchildren, and he would like to have “many grandkids” in his life one day.

There’s moments where I want 10 more.

“There’s moments where I want 10 more, and then there are those mornings where everybody’s crying and I’m like, ‘OK, maybe we’re fine at six.'”

Martin also spoke about his advocacy work with the Ricky Martin Foundation, which works to prevent the trafficking of children.

“I am an advocate for solid laws that will protect children, but just like I am a man with good intentions that is trying to adopt, there are many people out there with horrible intentions that just want to abuse children,” Martin said.

“I am one of those that says, ‘Yes, I want laws to protect children,’ but at the same time I realise it’s difficult for me to bring stability to this child living in an orphanage that has no one to visit him [because of those laws.] So it’s kind of frustrating.”