Elton’s A Dad

Elton John and his partner David Furnish have become first-time fathers, after their baby boy was born to a surrogate mother on Christmas Day.

The couple, who a year ago were blocked in their efforts to adopt a Ukrainian boy, have named the child Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John.

The happy parents made the announcement in a joint statement to UsMagazine.com, in which the pair said the child is healthy and doing well.

“We are overwhelmed with happiness and joy at this very special moment,” the statement read.

The couple fully intend to protect the privacy of their surrogate but did reveal that the boy was born in California.

The pair was denied the chance to adopt a 14-month-old, HIV-positive child from the Ukraine in September 2009 because the pop star was deemed too old and was declared single by local officials.

Family, youth and sports minister Yuriy Pavlenko ruled adoption was out of the question for the rocker, who, at 62, was almost 20 years older than the country’s age limit for becoming a parent to an orphan.

Pavlenko also refused to acknowledge Sir Elton’s legal civil union in Britain, and declared that he was unmarried and, as such, could not adopt a Ukrainian child.