Tan France on celebrating his 1st Father's Day and how his life has changed since becoming a dad
Tan France will celebrate his first Father's Day Sunday, a day that he says is special to him for many reasons.
The "Queer Eye" star and his husband Rob welcomed their first child, a son named Ismail, via surrogate on July 10 last year.
During a recent interview with "Good Morning America," France shared why the upcoming holiday is meaningful for him.
"My dad passed away when I was really young, so I never really celebrated Father's Day," he said. "And so for me now, it's incredibly important."
"I know that usually the focus is on Mother's Day -- my son doesn't have a mom. It's me and my husband," he continued. "And so I want him -- I want to celebrate Rob on Father's Day more than anything to show that he's done the most beautiful job and that my son should, hopefully as he gets older and older and becomes aware of Rob, that he should be so proud of who his dad is."
France said that his family isn't big on gift-giving, so he and Rob tend to prioritize quality time with each other.
"We believe that you should be loving and amazing with each other every day -- a gift a couple of times a year on Valentine's Day or another day, if that's when you're giving gifts, it feels disingenuous. And so it's more about time," he said. "So Rob and I are going to try [to] be together in the same city, wherever, which is difficult to do nowadays. I film two shows ... so time is more important than anything else for us together."
Since welcoming Ismail last year, the author and TV personality said that life has completely transformed. "I'm more exhausted than I've ever been in my entire life," he admitted. "I believe I've aged 10 years mentally and physically since we had the baby. It's hard to really focus on anything other than him."
"I love my job very much but everything you do becomes about your baby," he added. "It really changes how you live your life."
Becoming a father alongside his husband has also changed how he sees Rob, France said.
"I've been with Rob for, gosh, over 14 years now, and I thought I couldn't love him any more," he said. "I love him so much and he's the greatest joy. He was the greatest joy of my life -- and he's still one of the greatest joys of my life -- however, watching him with our son, I have a new level of love and respect for him that I never thought possible."
"He is such a beautiful dad. The way he is with Ismail is magical, and every time I see him with him, I just, yeah, my heart skips a beat," he added.
France said being a parent made him pay more attention to sustainability as well. This interest led to his recent partnership with baby care brand goodnest for its "Baby Steps to Better" initiative, which encourages "more environmentally balanced parenting practices."
"It's funny, when you become a parent you become more aware of the things you're putting on their bodies, the things that you're doing to the environment," he said.
"Up until a year ago, I wouldn't say I was the most conscious when it came to sustainability and making sure I was doing my part for the planet," he continued. "However, since we had a baby, that has definitely changed, I was very selfish before -- I just thought, well, it doesn't matter, I've only got a few more years after this. And now I will do all I can to make sure that my son knows we've done our parts, which is possible."
