George Arison is the CEO of Grindr and the former co-founder and CEO of Shift. George grew up in Republic of Georgia when it was still part of the former Soviet Union and immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager. George knew he always wanted to be a Dad and he got that wish about 4 years ago. He's a husband and father of two kids.
In this episode we discuss:
Growing up (and leaving) Georgia
The surrogacy process
The birth of his twins (or twiblings) and what *is* a twibling
The difficulties gay men face when becoming parents
His husband as the rule enforcer in the house
His family's love of books and some of his *favorites*
His parenting philosophies and the values central to raising his kids
How to prepare your kids to understand different family structures and questions they might get
The growing acceptance and supportive communities he's experienced
Listen, watch and subscribe: Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Overcast and Google.
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Where to find George Arison:
- Twitter / X: https://twitter.com/georgearison
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgearison/
Where to find Adam Fishman
- Newsletter: http://startupdadpod.substack.com
- Newsletter: http://www.fishmanafnewsletter.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/
- Twitter / X: https://twitter.com/fishmanaf
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startupdadpod/
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In this episode, we cover:
[1:37] Welcome
[2:25] George's Background
[4:27] Childhood in the U.S. vs. Republic of Georgia
[7:28] How he met his partner
[10:33] Their decision to start a family/surrogacy
[15:10] Surrogacy challenges
[18:41] Discrimination
[21:04] Surrogacy blockers
[21:51] His earliest memory of being a Dad + raising financing while his son was born!
[24:47] Most surprising part of becoming a dad
[26:38] Conversation w/ kids about same sex partners and more
[30:51] Household of books
[35:39] Where doesn't he always align with his partner?
[37:38] Challenges as same sex parents
[42:38] Husband/default parent
[45:47] Mistake as a dad?
[46:33] Play and work
[49:07] Rapid fire round
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Show references:
Do Say Gay - George's notes on the most meaningful books for his family: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/do-say-gay-fathers-day-george-arison/
Julia Donaldson (Author) - https://www.juliadonaldson.co.uk/
The Gruffalo - https://www.gruffalo.com/
The Pip and Posy Collection - https://www.goodreads.com/series/81031-pip-and-posy
Axel Scheffler - https://axelscheffler.com/
The Grumpy Monkey Book Series - https://www.goodreads.com/series/265196-grumpy-monkey
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Production support for Startup Dad is provided by Tommy Harron at
http://www.armaziproductions.com/
Episode art designed by Matt Sutherland at https://www.mspnw.com/
Surrogacy, Raising Twiblings, and Navigating Fatherhood as a Gay Man | George Arison (father of 2, CEO of Grindr)