Elton John becomes father of Christmas baby

Elton John becomes father of Christmas baby

http://musicifi.com/gossip/Elton-John-becomes-father-of-Christmas-baby-4392430.html

omg! / 20hrs 16mins ago

Singer Elton John (L) and partner David Furnish arrive at the 18th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Viewing Party in West Hollywood, California March 7, 2010. Reuters/Gus RuelasReuters Los Angeles (Reuters) - Elton John and his partner have become the proud parents of a son born to a surrogate in California on Christmas Day, Us Weekly reported on Monday.

Elton John becomes father of Christmas baby

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_eltonjohn;_ylt=Ai6d89gQz2xWqby9Az5GqC.9IxIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJiOTk3ZDNhBGFzc2V0Ay9zL25tL3VzX2VsdG9uam9obgRjcG9zAzEwBHBvcwMxMARzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3JpZXMEc2xrA2VsdG9uam9obmJlYw--

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Elton John and his partner have become the proud parents of a son born to a surrogate in California on Christmas Day, US Weekly reported on Monday.
The boy, named Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, is the first for the British rock star and Canadian filmmaker David Furnish, who have been together since the early 1990s.
"We are overwhelmed with happiness and joy at this very special moment," US Weekly quoted the pair as saying. "Zachary is healthy and doing really well, and we are very proud and happy parents."
The magazine said the boy weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces, and it quoted a representative for the 63-year-old musician as saying that no further details about the surrogacy arrangement would be disclosed. John's spokeswoman told Reuters the report was accurate.
The pair, who entered into a civil union in 2005, tried to adopt an AIDS-infected orphan in Ukraine last year, but were thwarted by government regulations.
Their son's middle name is a possible nod to John's 1971 song "Levon," whose lyrics were written by the rocker's longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin and inspired by Levon Helm, the drummer and singer for The Band.
(Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

– 1 hr 6 mins ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Elton John and his partner have become the
proud parents of a son born to a surrogate in California on Christmas
Day, US Weekly reported on Monday.

The boy, named Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, is the first for
the British rock star and Canadian filmmaker David Furnish, who have
been together since the early 1990s.

"We are overwhelmed with happiness and joy at this very special
moment," US Weekly quoted the pair as saying. "Zachary is healthy and
doing really well, and we are very proud and happy parents."

The magazine said the boy weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces, and it quoted a
representative for the 63-year-old musician as saying that no further
details about the surrogacy arrangement would be disclosed. John's
spokeswoman told Reuters the report was accurate.

The pair, who entered into a civil union in 2005, tried to adopt an
AIDS-infected orphan in Ukraine last year, but were thwarted by
government regulations.

Their son's middle name is a possible nod to John's 1971 song "Levon,"
whose lyrics were written by the rocker's longtime collaborator Bernie
Taupin and inspired by Levon Helm, the drummer and singer for The
Band.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

Sir Elton John Welcomes Baby Boy
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TV Guide ^ | 12.28.2010 | Natalie Abrams
Posted on terça-feira, 28 de dezembro de 2010 03:05:12 by Mountain Bike Vomit Carnage
Sir Elton John and husband David Furnish have welcomed a baby boy to their family, according to US Magazine.
Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John was born on Christmas in California via a surrogate. He weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces.
"We are overwhelmed with happiness and joy at this very special moment," John, 62, and Furnish, 48, told the magazine. "Zachary is healthy and doing really well, and we are very proud and happy parents."
This is the first child for the couple, who wed in 2005 after 12 years together.

Major Charles

Open Question

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Is it right Elton John and his partner are allowed Children?

I read the story about him and his partner David Furnish "having a child" on Xmas day. I find this appalling. God did not intend this to be the way of parenting when he created the earth. He must be sickened.

I feel extremely sorry for the Child. Elton is looking very tired, a baby waking up for feeds will only add to this tiredness. Elton has an extremely short temper and can be very vicious. As for Furnish, he looks a tad weird to me, I hope he is not left alone.

 

 

Drink, drugs, shopping... for an obsessive like Elton John, is having a baby merely his latest fixation?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1342354/Drink-drugs-shopping--obsessive-like-Elton-John-having-baby-merely-latest-fixation.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

By Alison Boshoff
Last updated at 12:45 AM on 29th December 2010


Welcome to the world of Zachary Jackson ­Levon Furnish-John — Elton John and David Furnish’s Christmas Day baby.
It’s the ­perfect gift for the men who have everything.
Sir ­Elton John, 63, says he is ‘overwhelmed with joy’ and all his dreams have come true.

And baby makes three: Elton John and his long-term partner David Furnish announced yesterday that they are now the proud parents to Zachary Jackson ­Levon Furnish-John

The little boy has apparently already come home from hospital to be with him, David, and their dogs, Arthur and Marilyn, in what I’m told is a ‘modest little apartment’ in Beverly Hills.
And what a place it is to start life.
The 3,000 sq ft home has bright green lacquered walls, platinum-leaf ceilings and a chandelier in the kitchen that used to hang above the concierge desk in Milan’s Grand Hotel.

 

There is a neon installation by Tracey Emin in the master ­bedroom and white leather sofas that Zachary will surely add his mark to in due course.
The baby will face quite a ­welcoming committee, too — for, on top of a butler, housekeeper and chefs, there will be both day and night nannies in residence.
In fact, childcare staff have been added to each of Elton’s five homes. And, as you might expect, there has been a lot of anticipatory redecoration.
But the flat in Los Angeles is by no means Elton’s swankiest property. According to friends, Elton wants to fly Zachary home to Britain as soon as possible on a private jet — although this may not be for a ­couple of weeks yet.
The family are expected to ­relocate to Woodside, Elton’s magnificent mansion in Windsor — those who have visited say it’s far grander than the Queen’s castle up the road.

Inspiration: David and Elton decided to start their family after meeting baby Lev during a trip to an orphanage for HIV-positive children

With gardens landscaped by ­Rosemary Verey and Roy Strong, it’s a place where Zachary can be cocooned in private. (The pair’s close friend Liz Hurley chose to retreat there after having son Damian in 2002 and nobody came even close to getting a picture of her.)
And he will need to be in residence by the end of the month, as Elton has a string of concerts in the UK and Europe in January and February.
‘Elton’s going to be quite busy,’ his PR Gary Farrow told me yesterday. ‘A lot was put in the schedule before the baby was thought of.’
Busy is an understatement. Elton will be getting to know a newborn child while dealing with a work schedule that would tire even the most doughty workhorse — and he’s not exactly young.
Even if someone else does the night feeds and the nappies, it’s still hard to picture Elton — eternally childish and prone to tantrums himself — dealing with the endless imperatives of caring for a baby.
Yet, despite a debilitating spell in hospital last year after flu, Elton is convinced all will be well and that he will find the energy to fully enjoy this surprising new phase of his life.
According to his friends, it has been a long and complicated road to fatherhood for Elton and his dashing movie-producer husband David — which is making them determined to prove the naysayers wrong.
‘Elton has been very ­concerned about people tutting over the baby. But he wanted it so much that in the end he just said, never mind what anyone says, we are going ahead,’ said one friend.
It’s a curious reversal, for only a few years ago Elton said that he had no desire to be a father.
In the Nineties, during the early days of the relationship, David, now 48, was the broody one, urging his older partner to look into adopting.
Friends such as Trudie Styler enthusiastically supported David, telling Elton he really should consider it.
But he would never hear of it.
‘I’ll take the perks of being gay where I can get them and that’s one of them for me. Gay men are the only group of people who aren’t looked down upon if they don’t have kids,’ Elton told Attitude magazine a month before he and David wed in 2005.

He added: ‘We talked about ­adopting a child. I said: “Listen, David, I’m just too old for this.” I didn’t want to be 70-something with a teenage child and all the worry that entails.
‘I’m too selfish. I’m too set in my ways. But it’s a shame, because David would have been a fantastic dad. Maybe, if I was 20 years younger, we probably would’ve done it.’
Instead, he served as a godfather to ten other children — among them Sean Lennon, Brooklyn Beckham and Damian Hurley — and avowed his paternal instincts were sated by being a part of their lives. He announced plans to leave his £175 million fortune to them.
‘I love kids, but it was an honest decision for us not to adopt,’ he said. When reason failed to convince his younger partner, he would joke: ‘I absolutely refuse to breastfeed.’
Even their marriage didn’t change his mind. After the civil ­ceremony, the couple settled into an almost impossibly lavish globetrotting ­lifestyle. Elton played two long ­residencies in Las Vegas and toured and promoted indefatigably.
He remains an enormously successful concert artist — even though his days of being on MTV are past, as he admitted this year.

Room for a small one: Elton's huge Windsor mansion will ensure little Zachary has plenty of space to play. It's a far cry from Elton's more modest upbringing in a semi in Pinner, Middlesex

The couple’s life together fell into a pattern, divided among their homes. Christmases were spent at their home in Venice and March always meant being in Los Angeles for the Oscars party, held in aid of The Elton John Aids Foundation.
In July, the pair host their annual White Tie Ball at the house in Windsor. August is spent at their yellow castle in the South of France.
In between, there is always their house in Atlanta, Georgia — an apartment over several floors of a contemporary building — that houses Elton’s phenomenal ­collection of modern glass.
The money it costs to keep all these homes is, thankfully, of no concern to him. He’s a man who likes to spend — and each property is always fully staffed.
Whenever he buys a CD, he will buy three or four copies so that he can spread them among his various homes.
His collection of photographs, said to be one of the world’s leading ­private collections of modernist and contemporary works, is worth ­millions.
His flowers — so lavish that he once spent £293,000 on them in the space of 20 months — were immortalised in a coffee-table book. He sometimes has the florist place water lilies on his swimming pool.
In 2000, he admitted to spending £30 million over two years — but it was an amount he simply shrugged at. So why disrupt this extravagant lifestyle and have a child?
Well, the tragic death of a close friend in 2009 seems to have ­triggered a late-flowering biological imperative.
His keyboard player Guy ­Babylon, a gentle man, died ­suddenly of a suspected heart attack aged only 52, leaving behind two children aged 17 and 11.
Elton was devastated. He and ­Babylon had worked closely together for nearly 20 years.
‘It broke my heart because he was such a genius and so young and has wonderful children,’ Elton said at the time. ‘What better opportunity to replace someone I lost than to replace him with someone I can give a future to?’

Flamboyant: Elton John at his 50th birthday party with partner David Furnish. Elton has previous been quoted as saying that he is too selfish and set in his ways to have children

Few would believe, even deep in grief, that one human being can be replaced with another.
Wouldn’t a kinder action have been to financially support Babylon’s children, rather than have a child of his own?
Apparently not, and Elton became convinced that he should take all chances at happiness — which meant creating a family with David.
So he reconsidered the idea of ­having a baby and began to get his legal team to look into the possibilities of ­surrogacy and adoption.
Last year, during a charity trip in the Ukraine, he had a chance meeting at an orphanage with a toddler called Lev.
The little boy ‘stole’ his heart and Elton — always toweringly sentimental — declared in an instant that he wanted to adopt him, although he had no idea of the process.
He was told that he was too old, as 45 is the upper age limit in the Ukraine, and that his civil partnership was not recognised there anyway.
The quest then became compulsive. As his friends know, Elton has the habit of devoting himself to hobbies with a singular focus. (Beechy ­Colclough, once his therapist, said: ‘He’s a totally obsessive, compulsive person. If it hadn’t been the alcohol, it would have been the drugs. If it hadn’t been the drugs, it would have been the food. If it hadn’t been the food it would have been the relationships. If it hadn’t been relationships, it would have been shopping.’)
Once the idea of becoming a father took hold, its successful conclusion was only a matter of time.
Thwarted in his desire to look after Lev, he sought a place in the world where private surrogacy and adoption agreements could be counted upon. That place is California, where Zachary was born this week.

Female influences: As well as lullabies on private jets and grand yachts, little Zachary can look forward to female influences from women like Liz Hurley, who is a great friend of the couple

At present, the pair won’t say who is the father of the baby, and have refused to reveal the identity of the mother. Last night, there was speculation that they had opted for IVF conception via a surrogate, and that David was the father.
What we do know is that Elton hasn’t cleared his schedule for anything resembling a paternity break.
On the contrary, he’s working as hard as ever. He has already announced plans for a new solo album next year, as well as trips across Europe, America, Canada and even New Zealand.
While the pair are busy clocking up ­airmiles, will little Zachary be brought along, too?
All the indications are that he will, because that’s what Elton wants — but it will be fraught with complications. The pair will need to complete adoption procedures before Zachary is allowed out of the U.S., and the only way around this will be for the baby to travel with his surrogate mother.
It will be a start in life as different as you can imagine from Elton’s lonely, uneventful childhood.
Born Reginald Dwight in 1947, he was the only son of two strict, church-going parents and raised in a ­humdrum semi in Pinner, Middlesex.
By contrast, little Zachary enters a gilded, complex world.
There will be lullabies on private jets and grand yachts, with female influences from women such as Liz Hurley and Victoria Beckham.
He will get the opportunity to smear chocolate spread on Daddy’s expensive artwork and hang out with other celebrity offspring.
Although Zachary’s upbringing will be many things — no doubt it will never be dull.

Enlarge  

COMMENTARY by BEL MOONEY: Accessory children and the question: Who is mummy?

According to the old stories, the good fairies crowd around the cradle where the new baby coos.
But beware the bad one who wasn’t invited, ­lurking in the wings, ready to frown on the celebration.
In real life, the good fairy in us must be delighted at the safe arrival of any new baby, wishing it nothing but joy.
But I’m afraid the bad fairy won’t be quietened. She’s heard that 63-year-old Sir Elton John has ‘had’ a baby — and sadly she shakes her head in disbelief.
Let me immediately say that I don’t have any objection to a gay couple (male or female) becoming parents.
Some people do — and assemble ­passionate and cogent arguments to make their case.
But I certainly do not believe that ­heterosexual couples have the ­monopoly on caring or being good ­parents. How could that be the case with so much ­evidence to the contrary?
So my doubts on hearing that a surrogate mother in California has given birth to Elton John’s son (or is he, technically, ­Furnish’s?) have nothing to do with the couple’s ­sexuality.

Famous friends: Elton is god-father to Victoria Beckham's son Brooklyn so it's likely that the little Zachary will be spending time with plenty of famous offspring

But they have everything to do with my distaste for the ­modern phenomenon of babies as a celebrity accessory — the ‘must-have’ for the season.
Elton John and David Furnish have issued a statement saying they are full of joy. Of course they are.
But that doesn’t mean the rest of us will applaud what they’ve done. Or quietly suggest that what seems to be a ­private matter doesn’t have worrying implications for society.

For can it really be right that the very rich can go out shopping for a baby on a whim?
A year ago, perhaps inspired by the likes of Madonna and Angelina Jolie, John and Furnish tried to adopt a baby boy from a Ukrainian orphanage.
They failed as the authorities did not recognise the two men’s civil law marriage. And, in any case, they judged the singer — in a decision that many will applaud — to be too old.
It must have been then that the ­couple decided on plan B — surrogacy. The U.S. is the most popular ­destination for Britons seeking surrogate ­mothers and in California women can be paid as much as £25,000, often ­waiving their right to even be named on the birth certificate.
Essentially, the woman who has entered into such an ­arrangement with John and ­Furnish for financial gain is not being regarded as a ­person, but as a reusable womb. Is that morally acceptable?
But what about the child?
I wince to think of baby ­Zachary Jackson Levon ­Furnish-John coming home from school in four years’ time and asking David or Elton: ‘But who is my mummy?’ Or will he be asking the expensive nanny?
True, Sir Elton won’t be the first man to become a father at the age of 63. To his credit, it seems he did worry that he was perhaps too old — and, many would say, with good reason.
Some men do become ­wonderful fathers in their 60s. But they usually have younger wives, so the child has one ­parent with youth on her side.
When Zachary reaches 15, Elton will be 78 and David ­Furnish 63. Not the best time of life to deal with a ­recalcitrant teenager.
When I read of women in their late 50s and 60s who have ­pursued motherhood at any cost, I find it just as worrying.
It’s as if the selfish (and vain) desire to have a child as an accoutrement overrules any thought as to what may be best for that child in the long run.
Because the hard truth is that parenthood and selfishness do not go together. Which means you can’t help feeling queasy about the prospect of Elton John as a father.
The phenomenally talented star’s life has been dogged by instability, multiple addiction and suicide attempts.
Back in 1996, David Furnish made a warts-and-all TV ­documentary about his ­(relatively) new partner called Tantrums And Tiaras.
The title couldn’t have been more revealing. The film exposed the ­musician as vain, bad-­tempered, spoilt and ­horribly self-centred — as this was a ­portrait by a man who loved him, it had a ­terrible ring of truth.
Tantrums are no way of ­coping with a demanding two-year-old.
Over the years, Elton John has spent much energy in ­raising money for good causes, and credit must be given for that.
Like any superstar with staying power, he’s also ­tireless in furthering his ­glittering career.
And he shows no signs of ­stopping. To take a look at his tour schedule for the first half of next year is (if you are the same generation, as I am) to feel exhausted at the prospect.
No matter what you think about the ­ethics of ‘shopping’ for babies or of a gay ­couple ­pursuing fatherhood, the fact remains this baby will have as a parent a ­phenomenally busy and ­workaholic father (or two).
Remember how Elton John’s own childhood was blighted by an absentee father.
I accept that money can make life easier. But the ­question is, what emotional quality will there be within that privileged life?
Yes, of course, Zachary’s future will be one full of ­extraordinary luxury. There’s the private plane and the five houses around the world ... but has Sir Elton realised that a child needs to go to school in one place? And that ­making friends requires stability?
This child will have the ­dubious joy of Liz Hurley bending over his cradle. In addition to Elton and ­David’s showbiz friends, there’ll always be a nanny on hand to change ­nappies, pick up the toys and do all the other tedious parenting tasks.
Cooks will mash up carrots and potatoes, and caterers will oversee the birthday ­parties which will no doubt outdo the ­Beckhams’ in lavishness.
Elton and David are quoted as saying ‘we are proud and happy parents’. I just hope they understand what being ­parents will ­actually entail.
For they must realise they will have to give up some of the ­glitter and one day devote ­precious time to an ­emotionally ­confused ­adolescent Zachary, who is slamming doors and asking: ‘Where did I come from?’

Elton John and David Furnish overjoyed at birth of surrogate son

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/elton-john-and-david-furnish-overjoyed-at-birth-of-surrogate-son-2171120.html

By Tim Walker

Wednesday, 29 December 2010

Immaculate conception: To Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish, a child is born

• enlarge

It was, you might say, an immaculate conception: to Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish, a child is born. On Christmas Day in California, a surrogate produced the couple's first son, Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, 22in tall and weighing a healthy 7lb 15oz.
"We are overwhelmed with happiness and joy at this very special moment," John and Furnish, civil partners since 2005, said in a statement. "Zachary is doing really well, and we are very proud and happy parents."
Sir Elton, who guest-edited The Independent and i to raise money for the Elton John Aids Foundation earlier this month, tried to adopt an HIV-positive orphan in Ukraine last year.
He said he initially resisted the idea, due to his age and the demands of touring. But after the recent death of his keyboard player Guy Babylon, he said: "What better to replace someone I lost than to replace him with someone I can give a future to?"
The identity of the mother and biological father remain private.







WHO´S THE DADDY?





http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3320622/Sir-Elton-John-and-partner-becomes-a-dad.html

SIR ELTON JOHN and "hubby" DAVID FURNISH have become DADS - as it yesterday emerged a surrogate mum bore them a baby on Christmas Day.

The healthy boy - named Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John - was born weighing 7lb 15oz in California.
Last night celebs flocked to congratulate the new parents - as rock legend Sir Elton declared himself "overwhelmed with happiness" to become a dad at 63.
It was not revealed who the biological father was. The identity of the surrogate mum was also being kept a closely-guarded secret.
Sir Elton and Furnish, 48 - who "wed" in a 2005 civil partnership - were last night in America preparing to jet home to the UK with their new son.
They said in a joint statement: "Zachary is healthy and doing really well, and we are very proud and happy parents."
The two took advantage of surrogacy laws in California that allow a mother to surrender her claims on her newborn - unlike in the UK.

Celeb Tweets ... Liz Hurley and Piers congratulate new dads

Splash News

Their baby joy comes a year after their battle to adopt an HIV positive Ukrainian child called Lev.
Officials deemed heartbroken Sir Elton too old. The country also does not recognise gay marriages.
Last night a friend of Furnish told The Sun: "Both are thrilled but it is Elton in particular who is overwhelmed with joy."
The pal went on: "The past year has been leading up to this. Zach is now Sir Elton's life. This means there is now an heir to his throne, his millions and his legacy.
Anyone who thinks that he won't pull his weight in changing nappies and getting up in the night is wrong. His new focus is family life with David and their son.
Designers have been called about working on the nursery.
There are plans for a suitably over-the-top bash to mark the birth.
Most dads wet the baby's head after the birth, but Elton doesn't drink and there will be plenty of gifts - so a post-birth shower is more appropriate.
There is a lot of celebrating to do once Elton and David are back in England. But for the moment they are just enjoying these first precious moments with their son."

Doting ... David Furnish with Ukrainian Lev and, right, Elton

Last month Sir Elton declared he was retiring from the cut and thrust of the music business, saying he could no longer compete with LADY GAGA in the charts.
Furnish's chum said of the dramatic announcement: "It was no coincidence."
Zach's middle name Levon is the title of a song from Elton's 1971 album Madman Across The Water. Yesterday actress LIZ HURLEY led the congratulations to Sir Elton, gushing on Twitter: "Can't wait for my first cuddle."
And TV's PIERS MORGAN, on whose show he was recently a guest, tweeted: "Feel such a fool - Sir Elton never even hinted he was pregnant during our interview."