You may recall that Clay Aiken became a father on August 8 of this year (08.08.08) when his friend and music collaborator, Jaymes Foster, gave birth to his child by artificial insemination in vitro fertilization. You may also recall that just over a month after the birth of his son, Clay came out of the closet and admitted his sexuality on the cover of People magazine. That was the last time we saw what Parker Foster looked like … until now. The little guy is getting so big … and is still SOOOO cute! Again, I’m not much of a Clay Aiken fan but I do commend him for coming out and being honest about who he is … and I do think his baby boy is ADORABLE. Glad to see that this little family is doing so well :)

[Source, thanks Ash]

Following the Aug. 8 birth of his son Parker, singer Clay Aiken is following through on a promise he made to himself as a new dad: to publicly acknowledge that he’s gay. “It was the first decision I made as a father,” Aiken, 29, tells the upcoming issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday. “I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things. I wasn’t raised that way, and I’m not going to raise a child to do that.” Aiken says he expects the news may overwhelm some of his fans. “Whether it be having a child out of wedlock, or whether it be simply being a homosexual, it’s going to be a lot,” said Aiken, who returned to Broadway last week as Sir Robin in Monty Python’s Spamalot. He adds that he hopes his fans “know that I’ve never intended to lie to anybody at all. … But if they leave, I don’t want them to leave hating me.” The born-again Christian singer also reveals how he told his mother Faye he’s gay four years ago. After dropping off his younger brother Brett, who was being deployed to Iraq, at Camp Lejeune, “I started crying in the car,” Aiken remembers. “It was dark. I was sitting there, thinking to myself. I don’t know why I started thinking about it … I just started bawling. She made me pull over the car and it just came out.” So what was his mom’s reaction? “She started crying. She was obviously somewhat stunned. But she was very supportive and very comforting.” Even now, Aiken admits, “She still struggles with things quite a bit, but she’s come a long way.” As for his own child, Aiken tells PEOPLE that Parker – who was conceived via in vitro fertilization with his best friend, music producer Jaymes Foster – will be raised in an environment that is “accepting and allowing him to be happy.” Says Aiken: “I have no idea if he’ll be gay or straight. It’s not something I’ll have anything to do with, or that he’ll have anything to do with. It’s already probably up inside the code there … No matter what the situation you’re in, if you’re raised in a loving environment, that’s the most important thing.”

People magazine will publish the full text of Clay’s interview as well as the first photos of his newborn son Parker Foster Aiken in their new issue on newsstands today. Again, I must commend the man for stepping up and acknowledging his homosexuality to the world. It is not an easy thing for anyone, professionally this may hurt him, but I think he will be able to live a more happy and fulfilled life now that he is being honest, not only with himself, but with the world at large. Well done Clay … as I mentioned previously, I think his son will be a much better person now that his father is being totally honest about who he is :)

[Source]

People magazine has yet to update its own site with this breaking news but the Huffington Post is all over it:

People hits newsstands on New York and LA on Wednesday, and there new cover is a doozy. American Idol alum Clay Aiken and newborn son Parker pose for their first photos AND Aiken officially comes out. Parker Foster Aiken was born on August 8 in North Carolina to Aiken’s good friend Jaymes Foster, 50. The pair met when Aiken was a contestant on American Idol. He was in “Spamalot” on Broadway earlier this year and is returning now. Aiken has long remained silent about his sexuality. While he has legions of female fans called Claymates, but has also been referred to for years as Gayken by Kathy Griffin and has been allegedly solicited gay sex online.

Even tho I am not a Clay Aiken fan (in the least, I don’t like an thing that he does actually) I must commend him for taking this step into brave new territory for him and his family. This People magazine cover quotes him as saying “I cannot raise a child to lie or hide things” and I have to admit that he gets major props from me for coming to that conclusion. Parker can only benefit from his father’s honesty … I wish them well on their life’s journey together. So … thoughts?

[Source]

To be quite honest, I still have no words for … this. Anyone?

[Photo credit: Splash News]