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12 .............................. Thursday, May 21, 2015 1GM
Refused bail . . . Sarao
KIDSKIDS 1515, ONON
CHANGE A THING
KIDSKIDS,, 1515,, ONON
TWINS WOULDN’TCHANGE A THING
Life’sfabwithtwogaydads
DADTONY
Proud parents. . . Barrie and Tonywith twins in 1999
Tweeters’train rageANGRY rail passengersfired off half a milliontweets slating train ser-vices in the last year.
A survey of 14 traincompanies operating ser-vices to London found473,661 negative posts.
Abellio Greater Angliahad the most with 72,861,followed by First GreatWestern and Southern.
Daren Wood, ofresearchers CommuteL-ondon.com, said: “Trainoperators should be mon-itoring these interactionsto improve services.”
EIFFEL POWERParis’ Eiffel Tower is
the world’s top selfiespot, while Stonehenge isseventh, a poll found.
‘£500bn CRASHER’IN 1YR JAIL WAITA TRADER wanted by the USfor allegedly causing a £500bil-lion “flash crash” has been deniedbail and told he faces a year injail before an extradition hearing.
Navinder Singh Sarao, 36, is accusedof using custom-made computer soft-ware to make and hide £26millionwith fake trades on Wall Street.
Sarao, who worked from thehome he shares with his parents,faces 22 charges and up to 380years’ jail after his alleged dealsdevastated the US stock market.
He was offered bail lastmonth if he paid £5million andhis mum and dad a £50,000
surety. But it emerged the US hadfrozen his assets, making it “impossi-ble and illegal” for him to make bail,his barrister James Lewis QC toldLondon’s High Court yesterday.
He said the amount demanded was“unheard of”, higher than that asked
of billionaires and oligarchs, and“amounts to a denial of bail”.
Mark Summers, QC, for theUS, said the only way Saraocould have bail would be toexplain where the cash he alleg-edly made was hidden.
A judge refused bail and saidSarao, of Hounslow, West London,must prove he has no other
funds. He may reapply for it.
By JOHN FAHEY
1GM Thursday, May 21, 2015 .............................. 13
THEIR SAME-SEX PARENTSTHEIR SAME-SEX PARENTS
TWINS Saffron and AspenDrewitt-Barlow made his-tory in 1999 as the firstchildren in Britain borninto a gay parent family.
Now nearly 16, they havespoken exclusively to The Sunabout growing up with twodads, battling the bigots andtheir own plans for family.
Saffron says: “It’s funny becauseto us, having two dads is our nor-mal. I don’t know any different.
“Now I’m older, my friends thinkit’s cool and, as dads go, they’repretty fun.”
Aspen adds: “Most of my friends’parents are divorced, yet my dadsare still together after 28 years.
“That makes me really happybecause I know my family willalways be together.
“My daddy Barrie always says,‘Gays are better parents becausethey don’t have kids by accident’,and I agree. It makes sense.”
Dads Barrie, 43, and Tony Dre-witt-Barlow, 52, met in 1987 whenTony stopped at a petrol station inManchester to ask for directions.
In 1999, after a landmark ruling,they hired two American women— egg donor Tracie and surrogatemum Rosalind — and the twinswere born in California.
Barrie, who they call “Daddy”,and Tony, their “Dad”, had a thirdchild, Orlando, in 2003, and a sec-ond set of twins, Dallas and Jasper,
in 2010. The couple wed on theweekend that same-sex marriagesbecame legal in March last year.
Saffron adds: “Me and my sib-lings wouldn’t have it any otherway. But I know my dads havedealt with a lot of homophobia.
“We were too young to remem-ber really, but we now know therewere times when we were the onlyones that weren’t invited to parties.
“It’s awful that adults would dothat to innocent children. I guesspeople don’t like ‘different’ becauseit scares them.
“The most popular question weget asked is, ‘How were youmade?’ But we don’t mince ourwords, we just tell them.”
Aspen adds: “One day, a ladasked if I was going to turn outlike my parents. I knew he was
meaning I’d end up gay. I replied,‘What, you mean rich and success-ful?’ I don’t let it bother me. Iknow my parents received com-ments like that for years.”
Barrie adds: “I was brought upby straight parents and I am asgay as they come, so clearly thereare no rules.”
Statistics show there are now152,000 same-sex couples openlyliving together, compared with16,000 in 1996. The number bring-ing up children is now 13,000,compared with 12,000 last year.
Gay rights charity Stonewall alsobelieves attitudes are changingthanks to the introduction ofsame-sex marriages.
The family are still in touch withTracie and Rosalind. But whileBarrie calls them “the mums”, thekids don’t see them as such.
Aspen says: “A parent is some-one who raises a child and makesthem who they are. That’s whatour dads have done for us.”
Saffron also does not feel she is
missing out on a mum. She says:“I can talk to my dads about any-thing. I’ve also got my nan if I feelI need a girly chat. She has livedwith us since we were born.
“Mind you we argue non-stop, soI dread to think what it would belike having a full-time mum.”
Barrie, who runs a surrogacycentre with Tony from Chelmsford,Essex, says: “At first neither of ushad any idea what to do withSaffron because she was a girl.
“But as she grew older, I gotmore involved and as for talkingabout relationships and sex, thekids know they can come to usabout anything.”
Saffron admits she is probablyoverindulged as their only daugh-ter. She says: “I have my ownchauffeur-driven car. And a fewweeks ago when dad was inAmerica he Face-timed me to ask whichdesigner shoes I’d like.
“He brought backeight pairs, plus
two handbags. I have so manypairs of shoes I’ve lost count.”
This December the twins turn 16and Barrie and Tony plan a glitzybash at Towie favourite, the SugarHut nightclub in Brentwood.
The twins are also lookingforward to finishing school andgetting jobs.
Aspen wants to be a dermatolo-gist like Tony. Saffron “wouldn’tsay no to marrying a rich manand being a stay-at-home mum”.
But she is not keen on fallingpregnant, saying: “To be honest, I’dprobably use a surrogate like dadand daddy. That’s my norm. But Iknow my parents think it wouldbe nice for me to carry a baby.
“I guess I could always have aC-Section if I didn’t want to push.”
Aspen says: “I’d have threechildren maximum. After seeinghow hard my dads work for us all,
five would be too many.”He then adds with a
smile: “My future wifewill be very lucky.
“She won’t have amother-in-law to
deal with. Thenagain — waituntil she meetstwo gay dads.
“Talk aboutoverbearing.”
Additionalreporting:
Julia Sidwell
Family . . . all five kids seedads marry last year. Below,zoo trip with twins aged ten
Aladaskedif I’denduplikemydads. Isaidwhat,richandsuccessful?
Idon’twantorneedamum.Icantalktomy
dadsaboutanythingsuccessful?
ASPENanything
SAFFRONDADDYBARRIE
By
Sun Agony AuntDEIDRE SANDERS
ENERGY&LOVE ISKEY
EXCLUSIVE by
JENNIFER TIPPETT
happier than their peers inthe general population.
As Barrie says, gays“don’t have kids by acci-
SAFFRON and Aspen soundlike two very well balancedyoung people — but whywouldn’t they?
They come from a com-fortable, stable home. Andthe world’s largest study onsame-sex parents foundtheir kids are healthier and
dent”. Of course Barrie andTony are well-off, but it’snot their money that madeSaffron and Aspen turn outso well. They are clearlyloving and available par-ents who poured theirenergy into raisinghappy kids.
