The dad was stunned by what the nursery said to him about Mother’s Day (Image: Cavan Images / Chloe Zola via Getty Images)
A two-father family were surprised by remarks their children’s nursery made regarding Mother’s Day. Stuart Armfield and Francis Haugen have two children, Rio and Rebel, who were born through surrogacy.
The family take pride in how their children came into the world, and describe the two surrogates as their children’s “tummy mummy’s”. However, the couple were genuinely surprised when nursery staff raised the subject of Mother’s Day with them.
Francis said: “Today they asked me, what do you want to do about Sunday? I was like, Sunday… And then she was like, M-U-M? Oh, I was like, Mother’s Day!
“And I just said to them, one, I was just like, I just love how they handle it with so much care, but I don’t need them to make changes to what they do already, because like I said, like, they’ve got two dads. That’s just the way it is.
“There are families with no mum’s, no dad’s, whatever, so, you know, it’s just the way it is. But I just said to them, why don’t you make cards for their surrogates? Make a card for Sam, make a card for Carly, because although that’s not their mum, we can call it their tummy mummy.
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“I love that they handled this with care, because it just means and makes us feel like they’re taking care of our different family.”
Francis described it as a “beautiful thing” for the women who brought their children into the world to be honoured, alongside their own mothers.
He went on: “Obviously, we have mum’s ourselves, so we have mum’s to celebrate, me and Stuart. I don’t find these conversations difficult to have with my children. They have two dads and we’re proud of that.
“But I think for us, this day is about celebrating their grandmas, our incredible mum’s, and also their surrogates that brought them into the world.
“And I think as they grow up, they’re going to understand more. I think it’s nice for my mum, she’s epic, and Stuart’s mum is epic, that they actually maybe get a bit more attention that they deserve being incredible grandmas.”
One viewer remarked: “Wow! That’s adorable. I absolutely love this post. What a lovely way to celebrate Mother’s Day. Your children are brought up with so much love. You are two very blessed dads.”
Another commented: “This is the sweetest thing, if I was a surrogate I would be absolutely over the moon if the kids made me a Mother’s Day card and I was recognised for carrying your child you are so kind.”
A third noted: “I think that’s lovely , I love that you said to make the cards for their tummy mummy’s.”