Well known clothing designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have faced ridicule by Elton John and other celebrities over some recent remarks that they made speaking out against in vitro fertilization and same-sex parenting. In an interview with Italy’s Panorama Magazine, the designers said (translated by The Telegraph):
- “We oppose gay adoptions. The only family is the traditional one.”
- “The family is not a fad,” he told Panorama. “In it there is a supernatural sense of belonging.”
- “You are born to a mother and a father — or at least that’s how it should be,” Dolce said. “I call children of chemistry, synthetic children. Rented uterus, semen chosen from a catalog.”
- Gabbana: “The family is not a fad. In it there is a supernatural sense of belonging.”
The designers are both openly gay; and, for many years the pair were also a romantic couple. And as the BBC reports, they “have rejected same-sex marriage in the past.”
John and his longtime partner David Furnish were married in December, and they are raising two children who were conceived through egg donation/ surrogacy.
In response to the fashion designers’ remarks, John took to Instagram to declare:
“How dare you refer to my beautiful children as “synthetic”. And shame on you for wagging your judgemental little fingers at IVF – a miracle that has allowed legions of loving people, both straight and gay, to fulfil their dream of having children. Your archaic thinking is out of step with the times, just like your fashions. I shall never wear Dolce and Gabbana ever again. #BoycottDolceGabbana”
Many other fans and celebrities (including Ricky Martin, Sharon Stone, and Ryan Murphy) took to social media to criticize the designers publicly and to stand with Elton John and his call to #boycottDolceGabbana.
At Family Creations, we strongly support all people, regardless of orientation, in their pursuit of creating a family. We are saddened that such calloused and insensitive lines of thinking still exist in the world, and we are proud to be a voice in support of everybody’s right to starting a family through the beautiful processes of IVF, egg donation, and surrogacy.