Celebrity fitness guru Shaun T and husband Scott Blokker are challenging the stereotype of a typical family as they raise twin boys in an interracial marriage.
After getting married in 2012, the same-sex couple was ready to start their family soon. However, the road to fatherhood for them was long and complex.
It took them five years to have children; they went through twelve tries, six egg donors, five surrogates, two doctors, one miscarriage before starting their parenthood journey.
Welcomed the Twins via Surrogacy
Fortunately, they welcomed their twins in November 2017 via surrogacy. The two introduced their sons—Sander Vaughn and Silas Rhys, and their surrogate on Instagram in December 2017.
They shared the post after the kids were discharged from the hospital as they arrived early at 32 weeks gestation. Since the children were born prematurely, they were kept in NICU for almost a month.
“Meet our SURROGATE, Ashley!” Shaun wrote alongside two beautiful images of their surrogate and her children holding the newborn babies.
He emphasized how “UNBELIEVABLE” it is that one person can absolutely change the course of life. Shaun T explained how many people have helped them and Ashley along the journey as she volunteered to bear their twins.
Many of those people also gathered behind her to show her affection, support, and encouragement as she prepared to welcome our two boys into the world.
“The excitement they had when touching and kissing the babies for the first time was unbelievable and unimaginable,” the 43-year-old continued.
Shaun T also expressed his gratitude towards Ashley, her husband Michael, and their kids, who helped them build their family! He described the surrogate as a courageous, strong, empowered, driven, powerful, dedicated, and amazing human.
The gay couple admitted that the first months of being parents were challenging and stressful in a 2019 interview with Parents. “It was terrible,” Shaun recalled.
While his husband Blokker revealed they got into more fights than ever before. “I even questioned whether we’d ruined our marriage by having kids, but it wasn’t the kids. It was the not sleeping!”
The creator of the Insanity exercise program said that he got two brilliant pieces of advice as he stepped into the journey of fatherhood. Blokkers’ father told him they are not going into the world of the babies, but the babies are coming into their life, which made him eager to show them their life.
Another piece of advice was given by his grandparent, which was to never go to bed angry, and the couple still follows that rule.
The Twins Turned Three
Now that the boys turned three in November 2020, their fathers are overjoyed, particularly after all they've been through.
The fitness trainer took to his Instagram and shared a series of pictures and videos as the family of four celebrated an early morning birthday bash. “We can’t believe these boys are already 3 years old,” he captioned it.
While the first photo was a family portrait with the dads holding the number 3 balloons, the latter clips showed the twins opening their birthday presents.
The next day, Shaun also shared the videos of the twins cutting the cakes and enjoying the special day.
Ever since the twins were born, the fitness guru has been constantly sharing updates about them on social media.
From wearing superhero costumes to their swimming classes, learning about the solar system to painting rainbow nails, he shares it all with his followers.
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