They Call Me Dad is a Movember funded project that aims to improve the mental health and wellbeing of gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (GBTQ) dads, intended dads, and those who identify as dads. The multi-year project is led by Best Beginnings. 

Best Beginnings believes parents and caregivers of all backgrounds have the right to high-quality support and information to help look after their own and their child’s mental and physical health and to foster strong parent child relationships. 

They Call Me Dad will collate and identify the experiences of the GBTQ+ community and produce resources to address the specific issues faced during the journey into parenthood. We will create a series of inclusive resources across both the Best Beginnings and Baby Buddy channels to help ensure GBTQ+ dads have the confidence they need to thrive as parents.

Calling all GBTQ+ dads to share your experiences!

As part of the They Call Me Dad project we are now seeking GBTQ+ dads to participate in family day workshops.

GBTQ+ dads are growing in numbers and we want to support them. Best Beginnings is developing tailored content for our award-winning Baby Buddy app with the aim of providing personalised information for GBTQ+ dads on birthing, surrogacy, and adoption. 

As part of this initiative, Best Beginnings is hosting two important in-person workshops to gather information and engage with the GBTQ+ community across the UK.

Sign up for our family day workshops here.

The family day workshops will be a chance for GBTQ+ dads and intended dads to have their voices heard and to talk about their experiences on the journey to creating a family. There will also be six additional Zoom workshops exploring routes to parenthood and mental health. 

Best Beginnings will work with GBTQ+ dads, intended dads and mental health experts to identify needs and gaps. The experiences and insights gathered from the workshops will be used to provide guidance for creating tailored GBTQ+ information around birthing, surrogacy, and adoption. The support will be extended to cover the period up to their child’s first birthday.

The resources produced will be launched in 2024 across all Best Beginnings’ channels including the Baby Buddy app.

The new content will expand existing resources for GBTQ+ dads to include films, video diaries, and written content. The project will also produce resources for healthcare professionals to improve the support GBTQ+ dads receive within the healthcare system. 

More information on They Call Me Dad

The project aims to: 

• research current mental health resources and identify the key issues affecting GBTQ+ parents through family day workshops and events 
• provide support through GBTQ+ partners and mental health partners  
• produce resources addressing mental health inequalities of GBTQ+ parents – including up to 15 films and video diaries on the birthing, surrogacy and adoption journey to expand Baby Buddy's content for GBTQ+ parents  
• improve the support GBTQ+ parents receive in the healthcare system by working with academic researchers to co-produce resources for professionals 
  
  

They Call Me Dad partners:

• Freddy McConnell
  • Trans dad and Journalist, whose birthing story was the subject of the documentary ‘Seahorse’
    
    
• Michael and Wes Johnson-Ellis
  • Two dad’s on a mission to help raise awareness of same-sex parenting and help normalise life for modern families. Founders of My Surrogacy Journey® and Two Dads UK
    
    
• Matt Taylor-Roberts: Managing Director of Proud 2 B Parents, an organisation run by and for LGBT+ parents/carers and their children and 'Dadda' via adoption
  
  
• Mark Williams
  • Founder of International Fathers’ Mental Health Day
     
• Scott Mair
  • Founder PMH Support (Paternal Mental Health)
    
    
• Swansea University
  • Academic researcher Dr. Kate Ellis-Davies