Two Essex men have made history by becoming the first gay couple to father their own children.

Barrie Drewitt, 35, and Tony Barlow, 32, of Danbury, Chelmsford, said they were over the moon at the birth of their twins Saffron and Aspen.

The babies were delivered by Casearean section in a California hospital on Thursday.

The twins were born two weeks early with the little girl, Saffron, weighing in at 5lb 4oz, while her brother Aspen was just 4lb 4oz.

Mr Drewitt said: "We have been waiting for this day to happen for the last four years. Oh my goodness, it was just so exciting."

The proud parents are now facing a legal battle to register the twins as UK citizens.

They won a court case in America to be registered on the babies' birth certificate, but have been warned the certificate may not be valid in Britain.

Mr Drewitt said they had been overwhelmed by the response of people back home. "It's just amazing, the amount of people that have got in touch," he said.

"We have lots of teddy bears and stuff, and the response from the people in Essex has been absolutely phenomenal.

"We would like to thank everybody for all the kind words and all the cards."

Mr Drewitt and Mr Barlow went though adoption processes in England but with no success. So they decided to try elsewhere.

An agency in California which specialises in helping homosexual partners finally gave the couple hope.

They donated sperm while Tracie Matthews donated her eggs and Rosalind Bellamy volunteered to become their surrogate mother.

As soon as Mrs Bellamy went into labour, she was joined by the couple, who were staying in a nearby hotel.

The fathers did hope to be able to bring the children back to their millionaire's home in Danbury but are being delayed due to a legal hitch.

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