An overjoyed Sam Harris writes about being a new dad...

Sam Harris is just a life force. So talented as a singer and an actor and so excited about life. The first winner of the original "Star Search" competition in the early 80s, Sam went on to become a Broadway star, was the best part of the short-lived CBS sitcom "The Class," and is currently working on a talk show pilot for Lifetime.

Sam has written a wonderful article for The Advocate about the journey he and his partner Danny went on to become parents thius year. I'll give ya a few excerpts but do go to the site to read it all because Sam expresses himself wonderfully:

I'm a dad. I can't believe I get to say those words. "I'm a dad." When I was growing up it wasn't possible for a gay man to utter that phrase unless he'd once had a straight family. There was often shame, sadness, and guilt around the husband that fathered children and then shocked his wife and kids by flinging the closet door open and attending his son's graduation accompanied by his new Yves Saint Laurent-donning male lover. Studies have illustrated the difficulties kids suffer when they feel they are the product of a lie. The wives aren't usually thrilled about it either. But many of them do come around, then everyone spends Christmas together: the kids (all grown up and married themselves), Mom (who never remarried but has a lot of cats), and Dad and Bob (who just got a summer home in Amagansett and "everyone is invited for clam season!!").

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Like many couples, gay or straight, we didn't arrive at the idea of having children at the same time. Since I got sober nearly five years ago, my need for children had grown into a literal ache, to the degree that being around our friends' children became painful for me. But Danny, again, like many men, was concerned about what we might have to give up -- our time, our travels, our privilege to spend money on what we wanted when we wanted -- basically, our free, spontaneous, and fabulous life. I didn't get it. None of those compromises compared with what I perceived as our greatest potential joy.

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But Danny needed time, and not on my clock. Finally, when he was ready, on September 17, 2007, we proceeded...On September 18 (I wasted no time), we met our attorney, David Radis. He'd been recommended by several friends and seemed to be "the" guy in town. One friend said that David "matches souls." I dug the idea of soul matching. It sounded metaphysical, spiritual, and organized (like socks) all at the same time. He explained that it could take as long as a year and a half, maybe two years, but that he felt we'd have a child much sooner because we'd been together for 13 years and we had a good "parental profile."

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Then one day, the call from a potential birth mother came. Danny was out of town, so I spoke to her by myself. I knew in 15 seconds that I was speaking to the mother of our child. She was due in about six weeks. ...It had been decided in advance that we would be in the delivery room and that we would cut the umbilical cord. We stood by her side as the birth mother pushed, focused and present, throughout the delivery. And when our son came and was lifted into the air covered in vermix and blood, screaming and gasping for air in this strange new world, our entire relationship with her had culminated in and was defined by this single instant. At the exact moment in which we were experiencing the greatest gift of our lifetime, this woman was experiencing the greatest loss in hers. In the same room. At the same time.
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Nearly three months later, we've come a long way. I never could have imagined the joy that is in my heart. It is the most important and unexplainable experience I've ever had. Of the many show biz highs I've had in my career -- from Star Search to Carnegie Hall to gold records to Broadway to TV series -- nothing remotely compares to the simple joy of staring into the eyes of my son. He doesn't have to do anything. The first smile was life-changing. The first time he reached up to me is forever cemented in my heart.

Congratulations to Sam and Danny...