Elton John seems like one of those types of people who worry so much and work up such a nervous energy that he’d be exhausting to be around. Last time Elton talked about parenting, he fretted that his son, Zachary, would have a very difficult time growing up if he and partner David Furnish didn’t get busy producing a sibling because, by Elton’s logic, it’s so difficult to be an only child. Not that being an only child is the end of the world, mind you. My daughter seems to be just fine. Would she like to have a baby sister? Sure. But she’s not suffering for lack of one.

Anyway, now Elton is worrying over another issue that seems to be of much more importance. That is, Elton is terrified that Zachary will be teased because he’s the son of two gay men and doesn’t have a mommy. Seems like a legit concern, right? Kids can be so cruel:

He may have riches and fame but Sir Elton John has admitted son Zachary is going to face a “very difficult” childhood because of attitudes to their unusual family set up.

The 65-year-old star and his civil partner David Furnish, 49, became parents on Christmas Day 2010 to a child conceived using a donor egg and born via a surrogate.

But the singer fears his child will struggle with bullies because he works in showbusiness and because of he doesn’t “have a mummy.” Sir Elton told the Radio Times: “Being the child of someone famous is a huge ball and chain around your ankles. It’s going to be very difficult.”

The star revealed that 20-month-old Zachary calls him “daddy” and Mr Furnish “papa.”

Sperm from both men was mixed to fertilise the chosen egg — a process banned in the UK — and the child was carried by a surrogate. The whole process is estimated to have cost the couple in excess of $1million but it has not been revealed who the egg donor or surrogate is.

He added their unconventional family could cause further problems: “At school other children will say, ‘You don’t have a mummy.’ We’ve come a long way, but there’s still homophobia and will be until a new generation of parents don’t instill it in their children.”

Sir Elton insisted he would not push his son to follow him into showbusiness but wanted music to be a “big part of his life.”

[From Daily Mail]

I think that, at this point, Elton and David have probably already considered private tutoring for their son instead of a group education setting, but I think keeping him completely isolated from other children would be a bad move. As much as it might hurt for Zachary to hear other children say things about his daddies, it will probably also be a character-building experience. After all, everyone gets teased about something while growing up, right? Elton and David should just be thankful that Zachary is a healthy and happy child. The rest will come in due course.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet