Brian Dowling is praising sister Aoife for joining himself and hubby Arthur Gourounlian on The Late Late Show.
They joined Ryan Tubridy to discuss Brian and Arthur’s Very Modern Family, their upcoming documentary following Brian and Arthur’s journey to fatherhood, with the help of Aoife as their surrogate.
Teasing what fans can expect from the special, Brian told host Ryan: “I think when people see it, they’ll go: ‘How does this work?’ But when you see it, then you understand it. The dynamics.”
“We wanted to be dads . . . we met in 2002 . . . and we just kept saying the time was never right. We focused on our careers and living in London. We kept making excuses.”
“A miracle happened – and she’s just sitting here,” Arthur said, referring to Aoife.
Aoife also opened up, about her decision to help Brian and Arthur become parents. Explaining: “I suppose I’d seen how much they were struggling over the years, and I’m not sure if I want to have children myself in the future, and to be able to experience pregnancy, and help my brother and his husband to become parents.”
“Aoife kept saying it to us. We thought she was joking.” Brian added, before continuing: “Then you and I went for a walk in January 2021.”
With Aoife saying: “I said ‘I’m serious. I really want to do this for you. But if we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it now.’ I was ready.”
Admitting there was some nerves in the beginning, she also shared how she prepared herself for surrogacy.
“None of us had done this before. We didn’t know how it was going to pan out. Before I made the decision I did go and see a therapist, to get myself ready and be mentally prepared for it. I was good to go,” she confessed.
The Big Brother star also shared some of his concerns from the start of their journey.
“I was really worried about that but it’s so funny to us now, in where we are. I also had a fear that Aoife would change her mind and would take the baby from us – which she could have done. I was really worried about that.”
“But then afterwards I was like, ‘Why was I so worried?’” Brian admitted.
However, there were some challenges in the process, particularly with Ireland’s strict surrogacy laws.
“There’s so much going on behind the scenes with court cases and paper work. Even the day Blake was born, Aoife had more rights over anything Blake needed than the biological father,” Brian explained.
“So Aoife insisted on signing some paperwork that would allow us to be consulted if Blake required any medical attention.”
Following their heartfelt interview, Brian took to social media to thank Aoife for appearing with them on the show.
Recognising how intimating it can be for someone outside of the showbiz world to appear on TV, Brian began: “So much pressure on [Aoife] last night. Appearing on LIVE television is not easy let alone doing it on [The Late Late Show].”
“All we can say Aoife is WOW WOW WOW you were ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. So relaxed & articulate & obviously looking [fire]. Thank you so much [Ryan Tubridy] for giving us the opportunity to come on & chat about our surrogacy journey the highs, the lows & of course also our fabulous new documentary.”
But even for Brian and Arthur, who are both plenty used to fame, there was still some nerves around their appearance on the show.
“Also no matter how many times I’m lucky enough to be a guest on The Late Late I will always be nervous. This show is an Irish institution, getting to guest on it is a real pinch me moment. Last night we brought the GLAMOUR but honestly, the McDonald’s afterward was giving us LIFE. To all of you who sent kind encouraging messages thanks so so much ALWAYS ALWAYS APPRECIATED,” Brian confessed.
Brian & Arthur’s Very Modern Family, will air on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player on Monday, the 13th of March , 9:35pm.
