I SOMETIMES WONDER...

It was reported recently that two policemen from Southampton have become the country's first gay couple to father a child.

PC Ivan Sigston and special constable Steven Ponder have had a son named William thanks to Steven's sister Lorna Bradley, who acted as surrogate mother for the pair. It is believed the birth makes them the first gay couple in Britain to father a baby.

Mr Sigston, 48, provided the sperm but did not put himself down as the father, meaning he and Mr Ponder, 28, must formally and legally adopt William.

A spokesman for Surrogacy UK commented: "We wish this couple all the best, but under the law it is not a proper surrogacy arrangement. That involves the couple applying for a parental order within six months of the child's birth. At present, same-sex couples cannot apply for a parental order but have to go through the adoption process. As only Lorna's name is on the birth certificate, she is William's legal guardian."

It also emerged that the happy couple were, in fact, in `civil partnerships` with two other men and as I am not au fait with the law relating to getting out of - never mind getting into - civil partnerships, I can only assume that yet another legal complication has yet to be overcome in William`s fledgling life.

At the risk of compromising `human rights` in our modern day me-me society and being ever in fear of yet another knock on my door, I will simply say that I do sometimes wonder whether I am in the wrong world at the wrong time. So I will leave any comment to the Simpsons who, in the picture above, have probably asked the most important question in all of this.