Elton John becomes father of boy born to surrogate mother

Sir Elton John and David Furnish following their civil partnership ceremony in 2005. Photograph: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

HELEN PIDD

WHEN THE Beatles imagined their lives aged 64, they sang of knitting sweaters by the fireside, doing the garden and balancing grandchildren on their knees.

Three months off that landmark birthday, Elton John might have partly retired from the pop music industry, but he is set to be busier than ever after becoming a father for the first time.

The singer announced yesterday that he and his partner, David Furnish (48) have become parents via a surrogate mother in the US.

The boy, Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, was born in California on Christmas Day, weighing 3.5kg (7.7lb). The name Levon is the title of a track on John’s 1971 album Madman Across the Water .

The couple said: “We are overwhelmed with happiness and joy at this very special moment. Zachary is healthy and doing really well, and we are very proud and happy parents.” The identity of their son’s surrogate mother is being protected by the new parents, and all questions about the birth and conception were answered “no comment” by the singer’s UK-based publicist.

It is not known who is the father, but Natalie Gamble, a specialist in fertility law, said one or both men would have provided sperm. She said that in all Californian cases of which she was aware, prospective parents must provide the sperm and the egg would come not from the surrogate but a second woman.

John has spoken in the past of his desire to become a father, announcing last autumn that he wanted to adopt a 14-month-old boy from an orphanage in Ukraine. He said then that the couple had always talked about adoption, but that he had objected because of his age.

It was the death of his keyboard player, Guy Babylon, that helped to change his mind. Babylon, who died of a heart attack aged 52 last year, had two children whom John described as “wonderful”.

He said at the time: “What better opportunity to replace someone I lost than to replace him with someone I can give a future to?”

His plans to adopt were reportedly thwarted by Ukrainian laws. Instead, the couple turned to the US.

In California, unlike in Britain, surrogates can be paid an unlimited fee. – (Guardian service)