Gay Melburnian, Is First Single Man In Victoria Approved To Have A Child Via Surrogacy

Shaun Resnik, a 44-year-old Melburnian, is believed to be the first single man in Victoria, to receive approval to have a child via surrogacy. 

The naturopath and mind coach has wanted to have children since the age of 30. “I always knew I would love to be a dad; I just didn’t know how I was going to go about becoming a dad,” Resnik, who came out as a gay man when he was 24, told Star Observer. 

Fourteen years ago, he didn’t notice many gay men become parents, especially through surrogacy. He imagined that by the time he turned 40-years-old he’d be married with children.

Tired Of Looking For Mr Right

“Getting to around the age of 38, and having had relationships with guys who didn’t want kids, and having to end those relationships in certain circumstances, I realised if I could get cracking by the time [I was] 40, it would be kind of too late. I decided maybe I should just do this on my own,” he said.

He was tired of looking for a Mr Right who would also want to have kids.

“I’d just go on the journey of becoming the single parent, and if I meet someone along the way, or after the baby’s born – that’s great. At least then I would not have missed the opportunity to be a dad,” he said. 

Carla is the surrogate mum who’s carrying his baby boy who’s due in April 2022. Resnik met Carla at a Meet Up event in 2018. At the time she was carrying a child for a same-sex couple. They became friends, and after he was unsuccessful with securing other surrogates, she offered to have his baby.

Outpouring Of Love

When he entered the surrogacy community via closed Facebook groups, he didn’t think he’d have any success getting a surrogate because he was single. 

“But, what I found in the surrogacy community that being single and gay makes you almost a unicorn,” he said. “And all these lovely women just wanted to reach out and help.”

Paid surrogacy is illegal in Australia. Getting a surrogate in Victoria involves extensive counselling. Resnik had to prove in front of a panel that he was psychologically and physically fit as well as financially capable of raising a child in a stable environment.

“They need to know that your surrogate is going to be well supported emotionally,” he said. “I think that there’s so much more acceptance out there. The outpouring of love from the general public has been amazing.”