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Simon Burrell always imagined he’d be a dad one day. But as the years pass, it’s something he dismisses. Simon is gay, single and approaching 50. But then, an honest conversation with a friend resurfaces that deep, buried desire to parent a child. And Simon goes to extraordinary lengths to make it a reality.

Matthew Syed follows Simon’s unconventional journey to single fatherhood, explores why male ‘baby lust’ - the intense desire to be a parent - is often overlooked and how popular culture helps reinforce stereotypes that assume women yearn for a baby more than men.

With Simon Burrell; Dr Robin Hadley, a researcher in male childlessness and evolutionary anthropologist; and author of the book The Life of Dad, Dr Anna Machin.

Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer: Vishva Samani
Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Sound Design and Mix: Mark Pittam
Theme music by Ioana Selaru
A Novel production for Â鶹Éç Radio 4

Featuring archive from:

Finding Surrogacy: Real Life Gay Dads, produced and directed by Andrew Webb, for ITV Meridian Broadcasting, 2000

Father of the Bride Part II, directed by Charles Shyer, written by Nancy Meyers, produced by Touchstone Pictures - a film label of The Walt Disney Company, distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution,1995

Bridget Jones’s Diary, directed by Sharon Maguire, written by Helen Fielding, Andrew Davies and Richard Curtis, co-produced by Working Title Films, Universal Pictures and StudioCanal, distributed by Miramax Films and United International Pictures, 2001

Episode 29 Pancakes from the series Peppa Pig (Season 1), created, written and directed by Mark Baker and Neville Astley, produced by Astley Baker Davies / Hasbro Entertainment, original UK air date: 2 July 2004 (Channel 5)