Brian Dowling says his sister was shamed for being surrogate for his daughter

The reality TV star (44) recently became a parent with partner, the Dancing with the Stars judge Arthur Gourounlian (42) and has been open about their surrogacy journey.

“There’s been a lot of shaming. The amount of homophobia that Arthur and I... it’s been so odd. Aoife also put herself out there,” he told Kate Ferdinand’s podcast Blended.

"Our journey to parenthood is very unique and with the lack of legislation in Ireland, who dictates who can have families and who doesn’t?

"I remember coming out in 2001 and we couldn’t get married; there was the referendum in 2015. Who dictates that I can get married?”

Brian’s sister Aoife was the surrogate to their baby, and all involved have been bombarded with questions about “DNA and biology.”

He said she is not the biological mother of baby Blake as they used an egg donor from Portugal.

"There was interest regarding who the dad is. People are obsessed with DNA and biology.

“Aoife never thought the baby was hers. Aoife knows it’s her niece. We have eight other nieces and nephews and it’s the exact same relationship.

“When we made this public, we got all this stuff like: ‘how could she give her baby away? Shameful.’ She was like, ‘It’s not my baby’.

"Aoife doesn’t think motherhood is for her but as a woman, she wanted to experience pregnancy. She was very emotional when she gave birth.

"She always wanted a C-section. The whole thing of a long labour, but a C-section, it’s more clinical,” he said.

The couple recently shared one of the comments that was posted on their Instagram page, one saying: “She wants her mother.”

Brian retorted: “Messages like this make me sad but also so very angry.”

He said the pair “get messages like this rather often. I’m not sure if the people making them are ignorant or just plain vile.”

Other users took to the comments section, advising them to ignore the negativity.

Lucy Kennedy commented: “Negative comments? Take no notice. Blake is such a lucky little baby to be born into a family full of love and happiness.”

Another said: “Unfortunately the comments are so common against our families because we’re different but Blake is such a lucky girl to have you both.”

A third added: “Beautiful baby and beautiful story. Ignore them. Baby brought into a home filled with love is what's most important.”

And another added: “So upsetting to hear you’re receiving negative comments at such a special time in your lives. God bless you all.”

Brian took to Instagram to share baby Blake’s reunion with Aoife, saying: “Blake LOVES her Aunty Aoife so much & was so content in her arms. How SENSATIONAL does Aoife look especially only 5 days after giving birth.”