A single man from Canada has realised his dream of becoming a father – eight years after he first started his journey to fatherhood
Nathan Chan, from Calgary, said he first felt the urge to become a parent about eight years ago, aged 25.
He told CBC News he held a welcome celebration to introduce daughter, Nanette, to friends and family.
The 33-year-old said: “I was just a normal guy, working a corporate job, and then I hit 25. Call it paternal or maternal instinct, I said, ‘Hey, this is the right time to become a dad.”
During his surrogacy journey he said he used five fertility clinics and five failed surrogacy attempts.
He also faced a lot of prejudice and was asked many times why he wanted to become a single father? Why don’t you just get a girlfriend?
Nathan said it has been a long road to realising his dream, and there has been some heartbreaking moments along the way.
He said: “I’ve experienced late-term pregnancy loss with a stillborn and also a miscarriage. So, I’ve just come a really, really long way, and I’m just so grateful for having this day today. It’s really challenging. It was very hurtful.”
But said his feelings often got overlooked and struggled to find an agency to take him on as a single father.
“Of course I shared this pain with the surrogate mum, the different surrogate mums that have had these losses with me,” he said. “Those kinds of feelings are normally not validated, as a single male.”
But his luck changed when he met his sixth surrogate Crystal Lane, who said her experience as Nathan’s surrogate mother was wonderful.
“It doesn’t even matter that he’s a single father. He can do it all,” she said.
“My son asks about Nathan all the time. He’s become so big in our lives.”
Nathan told CBC News he was telling his story because he hoped to encourage others to look into surrogacy.
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