Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black welcome second child via surrogate and share unique name
Dustin Lance Black (R) had been accused of assaulting presenter Teddy Edwardes. (Getty)
Olympic diver Tom Daley and his American filmmaker husband, Dustin Lance Black, have announced the surprise news of their second baby via surrogacy.
The pair, who have been married since 2017 and are already parents to four-year-old son Robert Ray, revealed in a simple announcement printed in The Times on Wednesday 5 April that they have welcomed their second child into the world.
“Black-Daley on 28th March to Thomas Robert Daley and Dustin Lance Black, a son, Phoenix Rose,” the one-line message read.
Although the couple have never explicitly said they were expecting a second child, Olympic gold-medallist Daley has repeatedly stated that they wanted to expand their family.
Daley shared the first images of baby Phoenix with his parents and brother Robbie on Instagram later on Wednesday.
“Our family has grown in the last week, we welcomed Phoenix to the world on 28/03/23 and he’s just perfect,” commented Daley. “Robbie is loving being a BIG BRO!”
In a separate Instagram post, Black wrote: “And then there were four. Our second son, Phoenix Rose Black-Daley, arrived at 3:34pm on March 28, 2023.”
After their first son was born in 2018, Daley shared a picture of his feet on Instagram with the caption: “27/06/18. Welcome to the world our precious little Robbie Ray Black-Daley.
“The most magical moment of my life. The amount of love and joy you have brought into our life is immeasurable. Our precious son.“
Black also tweeted a black-and-white photograph of them holding the baby, hands intertwined, alongside the message: “Welcome to the world little Robbie Ray. Thank you for bringing so much love and light with you. And thank you to those who helped make our dream of having a family into this wonderful reality.”
The couple also revealed the birth of Robert Ray, who is named after Daley’s father who died in 2011, in another announcement in The Times.
“Black-Daley on 27th June 2018 to Thomas Robert Daley and Dustin Lance Black, a son, Robert Ray,” the announcement read.
Speaking to Giovanna Fletcher about their decision to start a family on the Happy Mum ,Happy Baby podcast in May 2022, Daley said: “Lance and I had lost so many people in our families and there was something about surrogacy that we were drawn to that just meant that we could pass on the people that we’d lost.”
Daley currently hosts the podcast Made With Love. His recent BBC documentary, Illegal to Be Me, showed the Olympian confronting homophobia in various Commonwealth countries. A second documentary, expected to explore the process of surrogacy, was recently scrapped “under mysterious circumstances“.
He is also a vocal supporter of trans athletes.
Black, who is a filmmaker, author and long-time gay rights activist, won an Oscar for best original screenplay for the 2008 film Milk, which is based on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk.
