This article follows the trajectories of gay fathers who chose to use a surrogate mother in order to become parents. First, we explore the steps leading from the acceptance of homosexuality to the fulfillment of the desire to father a child, examining the spousal or single aspect and the motivations behind the choice to use a surrogate. We then consider the social representations of motherhood evidenced in the discourse and the relationships that develop between the fathers and these 'birth others', without whom these men could not have become fathers.