We were thrilled when Made In Chelsea star Ollie Locke and his husband Gareth announced they were expecting twins via surrogacy in the UK, following a third miscarriage in 2021. The couple has spoken openly about their process of starting a family together over three and a half years.
Ollie Locke baby news
Ollie and Gareth first broke the happy news that they were to be fathers in February, with Ollie sharing a compilation video of baby scans and FaceTime calls on Instagram and writing: "We are beyond delighted to finally be able to share the news that we are expecting twin baby Locke-Locke’s into the world this summer! You have all been so wonderful throughout the last 3 years of us trying to have a family and we promise to share every step of this adventure with you all. For all those on their own journey to become parents we are with you and sending all the baby dust your way!"
The couple then spoke to Hello! magazine where they revealed the gender of their twins: a boy and girl.
In August 2023, Ollie and Gareth announced via Instagram that their twins had arrived, directing fans to their YouTube Our Daddy Diaries.
Ollie spoke of the difficulties following the twins' birth saying: "It has been a scary time, they have been in neonatal intensive care for quite a long time."
Explaining why they had not announced their happy new sooner, Gareth added: "It was something we didn't want to share until we had them safe, back home with us and all part of the family. It is down to the amazing team in the neonatal units we've been in that means we've got the kids home now and the real daddying is about to begin."
Ollie Locke's baby names
In their YouTube video, the new parents introduced their twins Apollo Magnus Obi and Cosima Emily Bex who had actually been born six weeks previously.
Speaking to Ok! Magazine about their choice of names, Gareth said: "I always wanted to have a son and call him Apollo. My dad's nickname for my mum [Margaret] is Maggie, so Magnus is the male version."
For their daughter, Cosima means 'chaos and beauty' while her middle names are tributes to surrogate Bex and Ollie's close friend Emily Hartridge, a YouTuber who sadly passed away in 2019
"We hadn't told Bex we were naming the baby after her, so Ollie took her to the registry office after they were born and surprised her," said Gareth.
Ollie Locke miscarriages
The path to parenthood has been a difficult one for Ollie and Gareth, with their first surrogate experiencing two miscarriages.
Their second surrogate Bex Ward's first pregnancy for the couple also sadly ended in an early miscarriage. In December 2021, children's author Ollie shared the news, posting on Instagram: "After a difficult year, a little bean growing inside the best person you could ever imagine was the most wonderful early Christmas present we could ever have imagined. Through the course of nature, at 6 weeks and 2 days it stopped growing and had gone. This is not going to be the end of the road, in fact we have some wonderful plans and we continue to move forward towards the remarkable gift of fatherhood."
Appearing on Giovanna Fletcher's podcast Happy Mum Happy Baby, Ollie reflected on the situation, telling Gi: "I think you start to become a bit numb. So, the second time we had a miscarriage, then we had a bit of a break, and then a third time, and then obviously the fourth time we have been successful."
Who is Ollie Locke's surrogate?
Currently carrying Ollie and Gareth's twins, surrogate Bex first came into contact with Ollie and Gareth on social media, with Ollie explaining: "She had watched our journey on the show and offered to help as our story really resonated with her".
The two dads-to-be and Bex have grown so close throughout the process and they now see her as part of their family, even staying in London with Ollie and Gareth with her two sons every couple of weeks.
"She has done something monumentally important and caring and loving and selfless - there's no real way to explain it. She has helped us bring a family into the world that are going to be so unbelievably loved and so wanted. This has made us a family unit and she's very much a part of that," Ollie says.