Britain's first gay surrogate parent charged with rape, trafficking

Barrie Drewitt-Barlow of the United Kingdom has eight children, all obtained through egg donation and surrogacy — and now, he and his partner, Scott Hutchinson, have been arrested for human trafficking, rape, and sexual assault.

Key Takeaways:

• Barrie Drewitt-Barlow and his former partner, Tony, became the first gay men in the UK to father twins, Saffron (female) and Aspen (male), born through surrogacy in California. Both men were recognized on the children's birth certificates.

• The men obtained three more children via surrogacy before divorcing, as Drewitt-Barlow had begun a relationship with Scott Hutchinson. Previously, Hutchinson had dated Saffron, Drewitt-Barlow's daughter.

• Hutchinson and Drewitt-Barlow had three more children, bringing the total number of children Drewitt-Barlow has to eight.

• Both Hutchinson and Drewitt-Barlow were arrested this month for sex trafficking, rape, and sexual assault.

• Comments from Drewitt-Barlow show how he dehumanizes children and treats them as products to be bought and sold.

The Backstory:

In 1999, Drewitt-Barlow and his former partner Tony became the first gay men in the UK to father twins through surrogacy.

The two children, Saffron (female) and Aspen (male), were born in California, and the United States Supreme Court ruled that the birth certificates would list the two men as parents, meaning the babies would be registered as having two fathers and no mother.

The couple had three more children together, all born using donor eggs and surrogate mothers in the United States.

One of those children, Orlando, was born after Saffron and Aspen; however, the embryo implanted at that time had originally split off from Aspen's embryo. This means that, though they were born years apart, Aspen and Orlando are identical twins.

Drewitt-Barlow divorced Tony after starting a relationship with Scott Hutchinson, who is 25 years younger than he is. Hutchinson was dating Drewitt-Barlow's daughter, Saffron, at the time (though the family now claims Hutchinson was always gay and that Saffron was just helping him hide his sexuality). He has since had three more children via surrogacy with Hutchinson, bringing his total number of children to eight.

Numerous disturbing statements have been made by Drewitt-Barlow which dehumanize not only children but the women whose bodies he purchases. He has boasted about paying a model £50,000 to be an egg donor, because he didn't want his child to be "ugly." When his children were praised for being attractive, he said, "Well, you get what you pay for!"

He also said that if any of the children hadn't "come out right," they would have placed them for adoption. He added that he would never allow a lesbian to be an egg donor, as he believes they are all "fat and ugly."

When asked how the surrogate mothers react to seeing their babies before they are taken away, Drewitt-Barlow said he requires every surrogate he works with to have a c-section so they are not allowed to see them — and for other reasons: "‘They don’t see [the baby], because I always put it [the c-sections] in their contract," he said. "I don’t want my children coming out of a woman’s vagina" (emphasis added).

He also portrayed surrogacy this way:

“Absolutely. ‘Just buying a baby,’ that's what people will say. Most people could do a lot worse than spend one month of their life on drugs to give some embryos for £50,000.”

These comments, however, appear to be the tip of the iceberg, as he and Hutchinson have now both been arrested for sex trafficking, assault, and rape.

The Details:

Drewitt-Barlow and Hutchinson have both been charged with rape, sexual assault, and modern slavery trafficking for sexual exploitation. Both have denied the charges.

Authorities claim the crimes were committed between 2013 and 2026, and that the two men used their celebrity, multi-millionaire status to obtain victims. "It is alleged they have both targeted young males, they have recruited them, they have befriended them, they have groomed them," prosecutor Serena Berry said. "They have invited them to their home and other premises."

The official statement from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) read:

Barrie Drewitt-Barlow and Scott [Hutchinson] Drewitt-Barlow have each been charged with arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation, as well as other sexual offences including rape. We have worked closely with Essex Police as it carried out its investigation.

Multiple other suspects associated with the case have likewise been detained.

The Big Picture:

While Drewitt-Barlow doesn't have prior convictions, the case highlights how sex offenders can gain access to children — and potential victims.

There is virtually no oversight associated with surrogacy, meaning anyone can essentially buy a child without any screening to ensure that child is going into a safe home.

There are multiple disturbing examples of sex offenders (or people who have openly sexualized children) using surrogates to obtain children.

• Brandon Keith Riley-Mitchell, a Tier 1 sex offender in Pennsylvania, was convicted for child sexual abuse and possession of child sexual abuse materials. While Pennsylvania law bars sex offenders from adopting children, there are no such laws overseeing assisted reproductive technology or surrogacy.

• David John Farnell, a registered sex offender, is known for the Baby Gammy case, in which he and his wife bought twins to be carried by a surrogate in Thailand. When one of the twins, Gammy, was diagnosed with Down syndrome, the Australian couple abandoned him. They brought their daughter, Pippa, home, and despite Farnell's sex offender status, ultimately allowed Pippa to remain in the home with him.

• YouTuber Shane Dawson and his partner Ryland Adams have made numerous videos and statements sexualizing children (though they haven't been arrested or charged with sex offenses). Dawson has 'joked' about raping children, and admitted to repeatedly searching online for videos of child sexual abuse, including the victimization of babies.

Even worse is an audio clip from ‘Shane and Friends’ where he recalled a moment of asking someone to have sex with his dog. ‘If I had a child, which is the same as a dog to me,’ he said. ‘Well, I guess when they’re a baby you don’t want to picture someone f*cking them.’ His co-host shared a news story of a man who raped a 4-month-old infant and killed her.

Shane laughed and declared, ‘Amazing!’ Then he speculated how exactly the baby would have died during the sex act.

Sadly, these are far from the only instances; there are numerous other instances of predators gaining access to children through surrogacy.

The Bottom Line:

Children are turned into products to be bought, used, and sold on demand through surrogacy. Instead of being treated as human beings with intrinsic value and dignity, they are seen as items for wealthy buyers, without the protection and oversight they deserve to keep them safe.