Episodes

After Losing our beloved dog Koobeh earlier this year, we faced the challenge of explaining death and grief to our kids. When we started working on this season of the show we wanted to create an episode that will help parents who had to experience loss in front of their young children. We found Jesse Brune-Horan, a minister and a grief consultant who faced the worst of all - the loss of a child. In this episode we explore fear and grief, how to move through them and how to deal with our kids' fa...

Daddy Squared is playing matchmaker: When you are a single dad, it seem almost impossible to find time for dating. In this episode we tried to explore the (potential) love life of single gay dads, with Daniel Vandenbark, a divorcee and a single dad of a 7-year-old, who spoke candidly with us in the studio, and with Tammy Shaklee of H4M, a professional LGBT matchmaker. Having to juggle house management, kids and work, some single dads often testify, "I'm comfortable being alone." But sometimes, t...

All we really hope for as parents is that our children will grow up to be not only healthy, but also positive, optimistic people. How wonderful life can be for them if they see and imagine the bright side. We began our third season with some positive inspiration from life coach Scott Cruz, and talked to him about positivity and how to instill it in our kids. We all want to raise a positive-thinking child, right?! According to Scott Cruz, a leading LA life coach, being ‘positive’ is subjective, a...

It was just a matter of time, wasn’t it?! Everyone else has done it so now, introducing, the Daddy Squared Movie Awards. Our season finale this season, will hand a magnificent ‘Gayby’ Statuette in multiple categories of movies for kids of gay dads. No more just 'mommy recommended' stuff! The gay dads community has voted on the best movies for kids and now we give the ‘Gay Dads Recommend' stamp on children's movies. Guest gay dads studio executives judges help us decide who takes home the ‘Gaybys...

Finding the right school for your kids is difficult for anyone, but gay dads sometimes have to face an additional challenge making sure that the school that their kids go to is open to diversity and inclusivity of LGBTQ parents. How to start looking for the right school for your kids? And how to help your kids’ school be more inclusive? We talked to Steve Disselhorst, an adoptive gay dad and co-chair of Our Family Coalition, an organization that works for equality of families in education (among...

When you tell your kids the story of how they came to be, is the woman who delivered them identified by a face and a name? That’s a decision that every gay dad has to make when it comes to having kids through surrogacy or adoption. In this episode we explored two ways of keeping in touch with the birthmother (for adoptive kids) or the gestational surrogate (for IVF and surrogacy) as part of gay dads’ children's birth story. Some adoptive parents choose to have an 'open adoption,’ where the child...

For gay men looking to become dads, the world of adoption sometimes may seem impossible to navigate. There's so much information, so many opinions, stories, and ways to adopt that it may seem overwhelming. In this episode we've tried to lay the groundwork for adoption. A former social service worker, an LGBT specialist in an adoption organization and a gay dad with three different adoption stories had a vibrant discussion with us on the various paths to adoption, on myths, on homophobia – and mu...

How do you raise kids with dads from separate faith backgrounds? Interfaith relationships are not uncommon in the gay community, and with the ‘gaybies’ explosion, some couples choose to raise their kids with awareness of both partners’ religious backgrounds. We spoke to Ferd and Brian, fathers, husbands, and founders of GaysWithKids.com about religion and faith, and building a home where both Christmas and Hannukah are celebrated, though with a clear understanding that Brian’s passion to raise t...

Do hospitals really give seminars to gay dads on how to clean a vagina when they have a newborn girl? We had to check out this myth and other girl-related issues in a two-dad house hold. We brought on Eli and Ido, a NYC couple with two girls to discuss gay dads raising girls in the age of #girlpower and #metoo. It turns out that in a 'vagina seminar' in hospitals for newborn girls "they basically teach you to clean from the vagina to the anus and never the other way around," concludes Ido Bendet...

It’s Father’s Day and it would be pretty bizarre if Daddy Squared, the Gay Dad’s Podcast, decided to cover China Trade Tariffs or something instead of doing a Father’s Day Special Episode. Usually, we bring on an expert for our topic. Today is no different except that this time we had the ultimate experts in being a gay dad – the dads themselves. Download Father's Day Gift: Gay Divas Coloring Book Back when you first came out, what did you think about having kids? Why do you think you ended up h...

Almost every dad has suffered some unwanted criticism either on social media or in real life, from people who 'know better' about parenting. Dad shaming is a thing, parents tend to judge other parents, and it manifests itself both on social media and in real life, making dads just feel awful about themselves. As a follow-up to our Pride episode, we talk about the opposite of pride - shame. We brought on Jeremy Hooper, a writer and consultant for GLAAD, who has been dad-shamed before he even left...

What is Pride? As Pride Month approaches, we wanted to take a look at pride, maybe a little more from the parenting perspective: how can we instill self-pride in our kids - pride for our kids in who they are and in where they come from? We turned to Ariel Foxman, a writer, a journalist and a thinker, to talk about the issue. We hope that our conversation will inspire you. Take Action: Demand a same-sex parent family on Peppa Pig! “I think that what’s interesting about being a gay dad, which I do...

Here’s a fact: gay parents are much more attentive to their kids’ gender expressions than heterosexual parents. Just from the nature of growing up different, sometimes in an unwelcoming environment, we don’t want our kids to suffer the emotional pain that we went through. This is a partial explanation for an amazing growing phenomenon, where gay couples step forward and adopt transgender youth who were thrown out of their homes. In this episode of Daddy Squared we brought on David Strah, a famil...

When you’re a young couple it’s easy to order in or dine out on a daily basis, but when the kids come along, spending time in the kitchen to prepare nutritious and healthy meals for them can become a problem for some dads. We turned to gay dad and celebrity chef David Burtka who just published his debut recipe book Life is a Party, to get some advice, inspiration, and support as we take our baby steps in the kitchen. One of the main things we learned from our interview with David is that healthy...

If you feel that after a vacation with the kids YOU need a vacation – you’re not alone! Traveling with kids is not always easy, sometimes we want them to have so much fun, that we forget to have fun ourselves. We brought on Instagram-known traveler and blogger Devon Gibby to share his experience and give us some tips on traveling with kids (and also without!) “A lot of [my traveling] is pretty impulsive,” Devon reveals in Daddy Squared interview, “travel is the way that I express my impulses, li...

For our Family Equality Day special we brought on Stan J. Sloan, CEO of Family Equality Council, to speak about the work of the organization and about gay men who don't have kids and would like to connect with LGBTQ families. International Family Equality Day celebrates the diversity of LGBTQ families around the world, and takes place every year on the first Sunday in May. By celebrating International Family Equality Day, Family Equality Council raises awareness among politicians and the general...

Bringing a biological baby into the world can cost $180,000. For twins it can be around a quarter million. The biggest question is: Can we make it cheaper? Through our podcast we have met so many dads in various stages of the parenthood journey. But whether it’s in gay dad Facebook groups or in face-to-face interaction, there’s no doubt that the biggest issue gay dads tackle is the cost of surrogacy. In our season premiere of Daddy Squared we decided to dive into the costs of surrogacy and try t...

There are so many things that change from the time you decide you want to become a parent until it happens... and then after it happens. But one of the changes that may not be so obvious is the effect that all of this can have on your social life in general, and especially on close friends. And relationships with your closest gay friends - many of whom often don’t have children - can be a real question. In our season finale we brought on two guests -- each of them is best friends with a gay dad ...

When thinking about having kids via surrogacy, the legal part is just as important as the IVF process itself. Making sure that the agreements with the surrogate and the egg donor are set up properly is a solid base for the whole process itself. And then there are issues like legal guardianship and birth certificates that are also crucial for finishing the process with babies that are completely, legally yours. We turned to Fertility Lawyer and gay dad Richard Vaughn of International Fertility La...

In this special episode, we flew to New York City to experience the annual Men Having Babies Conference. MHB provides unbiased surrogacy parenting advice and support for gay men worldwide. The Conference featured parenting options in the USA and Canada, in-depth panels — including on insurance, budgeting, and teen surrogacy children, and an Expo of surrogacy parenting info. In this episode we shed a light on the history and work of Men Having Babies, on the conference and on the Canadian surroga...

So far in our podcast, we mostly interviewed dads who had their kids either through surrogacy or adoption. But there are other ways in which you can become dads. In this week's episode we look at two ways that are often overlooked: Known Sperm Donor, and Co-Parenting. David Dodge, managing editor at GaysWithKids.com is a father of two children, who he had together with a lesbian couple. Though he has no legal rights with the kids, they still call him 'papa,' and his parents go to visit their gra...

It's very much in vogue to talk about "work-life balance." And if ever the question of that balance was most important - and difficult - it's when babies and kids enter the picture. We interviewed Mike Stommel, who seems to have figured this out pretty well, to tell us what worked for him and his family, what didn't, and how it's evolved over time. And as an added bonus, your hosts had a thinly veiled fight on-air about how it's working (or not) for us. What more could you ask for?! View the epi...

Don't mislead yourself: Stay-at-Home parenting is a full-time job - or more. It may be even tougher than the 'traditional' job because there're no days off, no sick days, no Medical, Dental and Vision coverage and no bonuses at the end of the year. Nevertheless, many dads choose to stay at home to take care of the kid(s). Some of them do it out of need to give their kids the 100% care they've always wished for, others do it as a part of a complete change in their life's direction. We spoke with ...

Some of us used to sneak out to mom's closet and try on her shoes and clothes, pretending to be Cyndi Lauper-- this is what 'Entertaining Babies' is all about! How to use our inner (some would say: hidden) creativity during our time with our babies and toddlers. From the moment they open their eyes, bring out the Cyndi Lauper in you in order to stimulate them, create a vibe of music and laughter in the family without leaving your home! This episode is great for the winter season. Unless you are ...