Kansas, USA: David Titterington had an inkling of what his childhood friend would ask him when she led him into a photo booth at a mutual friend's wedding roughly a decade ago. As the countdown for the second photo ticked, Jen Wilson popped the question: "Will you be my sperm donor?"

"Of course, I said yes," Titterington recalled. "Who would have guessed that, as a gay man, I would have the opportunity to have biological children and also be part of their lives?"

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This trio of images captured in a photo booth a decade ago shows the moment they asked friend David Titterington to help them create a family by donating sperm | Photo: AP
This trio of images captured in a photo booth a decade ago shows the moment they asked friend David Titterington to help them create a family by donating sperm | Photo: AP

On Father’s Day, Kansas residents Jen and Whitney Wilson will pack up their three children — aged 9, 7, and 3 — and head to Titterington's Missouri home to celebrate the man who helped make their family dream a reality. Like many LGBTQ+ couples, they and their sperm donor have created unique traditions around Father’s Day.

"We decided to celebrate him," said Jen Wilson, the executive director of the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Modern Family Alliance.

Jen Wilson and Titterington have been friends since childhood. When Jen and her wife Whitney began planning their family, Titterington suggested he could be their sperm donor. He was thrilled when they made the official request.

Titterington sees his role in the children’s lives as more akin to a godfather than a father. He and his husband attend school events and birthday parties, viewing themselves as “coaching from the sidelines.” He prefers the title “blood father,” but the Wilsons’ children often call him their “bio dad” or “donor dad.”

"I am their father, but I’m not really their parent," Titterington explained. "Jennifer and Whitney are the parents, and they’re doing an amazing job."

Despite David’s involvement, the absence of a traditional father figure can sometimes be challenging for the children, Whitney Wilson acknowledged, but it is not a major concern.

"There are people who would love to tell our children how terrible it is that they don’t have a father figure in their life," Jen Wilson said. "We know that’s not true."

For Titterington, fatherhood means experiencing the weight of the Wilsons' firstborn falling asleep on his chest, cherishing scribbled artwork, and cleaning up after a toddler in potty training. However, after a tiring weekend slumber party, he can send the children back home to their mothers.

"There are so many ways to be a father," Titterington said. "We get to celebrate all kinds of fathers on Father’s Day." AP