1. 12 .............................. Thursday, May 21, 2015 1GM
Refused bail . . . Sarao
KIDSKIDS 1515, ONON
CHANGE A THING
KIDSKIDS,, 1515,, ONON
TWINS WOULDN’T
CHANGE A THING
Life’s
fab
with
two
gay
dads
DAD
TONY
Proud parents
. . . Barrie and Tony
with twins in 1999
Tweeters’
trainrage
ANGRY rail passengers
fired off half a million
tweets slating train ser-
vices in the last year.
A survey of 14 train
companies operating ser-
vices to London found
473,661 negative posts.
Abellio Greater Anglia
had the most with 72,861,
followed by First Great
Western and Southern.
Daren Wood, of
researchers CommuteL-
ondon.com, said: “Train
operators should be mon-
itoring these interactions
to improve services.”
EIFFEL POWER
Paris’ Eiffel Tower is
the world’s top selfie
spot, while Stonehenge is
seventh, a poll found.
‘£500bn CRASHER’
IN 1YR JAIL WAITA TRADER wanted by the US
for allegedly causing a £500bil-
lion “flash crash” has been denied
bail and told he faces a year in
jail before an extradition hearing.
Navinder Singh Sarao, 36, is accused
of using custom-made computer soft-
ware to make and hide £26million
with fake trades on Wall Street.
Sarao, who worked from the
home he shares with his parents,
faces 22 charges and up to 380
years’ jail after his alleged deals
devastated the US stock market.
He was offered bail last
month if he paid £5million and
his mum and dad a £50,000
surety. But it emerged the US had
frozen his assets, making it “impossi-
ble and illegal” for him to make bail,
his barrister James Lewis QC told
London’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 the
US, said the only way Sarao
could have bail would be to
explain where the cash he alleg-
edly made was hidden.
A judge refused bail and said
Sarao, 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 Aspen
Drewitt-Barlow made his-
tory in 1999 as the first
children in Britain born
into a gay parent family.
Now nearly 16, they have
spoken exclusively to The Sun
about growing up with two
dads, battling the bigots and
their own plans for family.
Saffron says: “It’s funny because
to us, having two dads is our nor-
mal. I don’t know any different.
“Now I’m older, my friends think
it’s cool and, as dads go, they’re
pretty fun.”
Aspen adds: “Most of my friends’
parents are divorced, yet my dads
are still together after 28 years.
“That makes me really happy
because I know my family will
always be together.
“My daddy Barrie always says,
‘Gays are better parents because
they don’t have kids by accident’,
and I agree. It makes sense.”
Dads Barrie, 43, and Tony Dre-
witt-Barlow, 52, met in 1987 when
Tony stopped at a petrol station in
Manchester to ask for directions.
In 1999, after a landmark ruling,
they hired two American women
— egg donor Tracie and surrogate
mum Rosalind — and the twins
were born in California.
Barrie, who they call “Daddy”,
and Tony, their “Dad”, had a third
child, Orlando, in 2003, and a sec-
ond set of twins, Dallas and Jasper,
in 2010. The couple wed on the
weekend that same-sex marriages
became legal in March last year.
Saffron adds: “Me and my sib-
lings wouldn’t have it any other
way. But I know my dads have
dealt with a lot of homophobia.
“We were too young to remem-
ber really, but we now know there
were times when we were the only
ones that weren’t invited to parties.
“It’s awful that adults would do
that to innocent children. I guess
people don’t like ‘different’ because
it scares them.
“The most popular question we
get asked is, ‘How were you
made?’ But we don’t mince our
words, we just tell them.”
Aspen adds: “One day, a lad
asked if I was going to turn out
like 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. I
know my parents received com-
ments like that for years.”
Barrie adds: “I was brought up
by straight parents and I am as
gay as they come, so clearly there
are no rules.”
Statistics show there are now
152,000 same-sex couples openly
living together, compared with
16,000 in 1996. The number bring-
ing up children is now 13,000,
compared with 12,000 last year.
Gay rights charity Stonewall also
believes attitudes are changing
thanks to the introduction of
same-sex marriages.
The family are still in touch with
Tracie and Rosalind. But while
Barrie calls them “the mums”, the
kids don’t see them as such.
Aspen says: “A parent is some-
one who raises a child and makes
them who they are. That’s what
our 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 feel
I need a girly chat. She has lived
with us since we were born.
“Mind you we argue non-stop, so
I dread to think what it would be
like having a full-time mum.”
Barrie, who runs a surrogacy
centre with Tony from Chelmsford,
Essex, says: “At first neither of us
had any idea what to do with
Saffron because she was a girl.
“But as she grew older, I got
more involved and as for talking
about relationships and sex, the
kids know they can come to us
about anything.”
Saffron admits she is probably
overindulged as their only daugh-
ter. She says: “I have my own
chauffeur-driven car. And a few
weeks ago when dad was in
America he Face-
timed me to ask which
designer shoes I’d like.
“He brought back
eight pairs, plus
two handbags. I have so many
pairs of shoes I’ve lost count.”
This December the twins turn 16
and Barrie and Tony plan a glitzy
bash at Towie favourite, the Sugar
Hut nightclub in Brentwood.
The twins are also looking
forward to finishing school and
getting jobs.
Aspen wants to be a dermatolo-
gist like Tony. Saffron “wouldn’t
say no to marrying a rich man
and being a stay-at-home mum”.
But she is not keen on falling
pregnant, saying: “To be honest, I’d
probably use a surrogate like dad
and daddy. That’s my norm. But I
know my parents think it would
be nice for me to carry a baby.
“I guess I could always have a
C-Section if I didn’t want to push.”
Aspen says: “I’d have three
children maximum. After seeing
how hard my dads work for us all,
five would be too many.”
He then adds with a
smile: “My future wife
will be very lucky.
“She won’t have a
mother-in-law to
deal with. Then
again — wait
until she meets
two gay dads.
“Talk about
overbearing.”
jennifer.tip-
pett@the-
sun.co.uk
Additional
reporting:
Julia Sidwell
Family . . . all five kids see
dads marry last year. Below,
zoo trip with twins aged ten
Aladasked
ifI’denduplike
mydads.Isaid
what,richand
successful?
Idon’twant
orneedamum.
Icantalktomy
dadsabout
anythingsuccessful?
ASPEN
anything
SAFFRONDADDY
BARRIE
By
Sun Agony Aunt
DEIDRE SANDERS
ENERGY & LOVE IS KEY
EXCLUSIVE by
JENNIFER TIPPETT
happier than their peers in
the general population.
As Barrie says, gays
“don’t have kids by acci-
SAFFRON and Aspen sound
like two very well balanced
young people — but why
wouldn’t they?
They come from a com-
fortable, stable home. And
the world’s largest study on
same-sex parents found
their kids are healthier and
dent”. Of course Barrie and
Tony are well-off, but it’s
not their money that made
Saffron and Aspen turn out
so well. They are clearly
loving and available par-
ents who poured their
energy into raising
happy kids.