Spy: Breakfast host Matty McLean is talking babies
Five months after their New Year’s Eve wedding, Breakfast’s Matty McLean and his new husband are ensconced in marital bliss in suburbia with a white picket fence — and talk has turned to starting a family.
The 36-year-old TV star met real estate agent Ryan Teece, 31, on Tinder six years ago and they adopted their dog Otis on their third date.
On a recent episode of his podcast Out the Gayte, where McLean talks gay issues of the day with friends, PR man Chris Henry and rugby fan Brad Christensen, he confessed he and Teece had been having a serious chat about starting a family.
The adults-only podcast, which can be raucous and racy, took a softer side as the three embraced the topic with warmth and understanding.
McLean said he had always wanted to be a dad and imagined himself being one, but now that he is in a position to offer a child security, there are more questions than answers.
“We have discussed if this is something we want to work towards. I have always loved the idea of having kids.
“But now we are having this quite serious conversation about it, God, is this what I want? Is this the way I want my life to go or is it the idea of it I have loved more than anything?”
His co-hosts joked that he should keep trying naturally, but said that, on a serious note, for a gay couple the considerations when trying to bring a child into the world amount to more.
“For us, there are a lot of steps before we can even give it a go,” said McLean.
The process includes embarking on a surrogacy journey, paperwork, counselling services and dealing with an ethics committee.
McLean said he knows of heterosexual couples who have an extremely hard time getting pregnant, but at least the decision to start trying comes easier for them.
“You really have to make this conscious decision — yes, I am ready for this — I am ready for this big life-changing thing, and it’s kind of scary,” said McLean.
And like any couple planning a family, it’s not just the logistics on McLean’s mind, it’s the cost and commitment.
“I notice with my friends — any kind of social things — if you want to go away for weekends, you really have to take into consideration children. Man, is it really what I want? What is my life going to look like if I do invite that in?”
The trio talked about being uncles and babysitting and joked about nappy changing. McLean has changed one, saying he was thorough, using 20 or 30 wet wipes.
His co-hosts suggested McLean and Teece keep talking about it to one another, their friends and their parents. Also talk to people in the LGBTQIA+ community who have jumped through the hoops and now have thriving families.
McLean confessed his mother Tracy is desperate to be a grandmother.
“OMG, she already calls herself Nana T because of our dog,” he said, laughing.