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Tom Ford is a father! Fashion designer, 51, and partner Richard Buckley, 64, announce birth of baby son Alexander 
By SARA NATHAN (dailymail.co.uk, 5-10-2012) 
 Fashion designer Tom Ford today announced the arrival of his baby son Alexander with his long-term partner Richard Buckley. Ford, 51, one of the most feted men in fashion - has been in a relationship with Mr Buckley, 64, for the past 25 years. 
The couple met when Ford, who took over the reigns at Gucci before launching his own successful company, was just 25 and Mr Buckley, the former Editor in Chief of Vogue Hommes International, was 38.
 A typically stylish note announcing Alexander's birth is now doing the rounds, revealing the little boy was born in Los Angeles on September 23. 
The baby is believed to have been born via a surrogate, the same route taken by Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish, to have their baby son Zachary, who will celebrate his second birthday on December 26. Just last year, Ford said he planned to be a parent - but insisted he would not use his child as a 'press tool' adding: 'I always said I wanted to have children. 
And as I got a little bit older, Richard, who I live with – we’ve been together 24 years – did not want children. 'And so I decided not to have children. 
But if I have children, no one will know about it until the child is born. Proud parents: Tom Ford and Richard Buckley announce the birth of their son '

And no one will ever see the child because I certainly wouldn’t use it as a press tool. If I have a child, you won’t notice that I had a child. 
Maybe you’ll see it when it’s 18, but I will keep it out of the spotlight.' Love Magazine broke the news of the birth of their son, with the tweet: 'Congratulations to Tom Ford and Richard Buckley who have announced the birth of their son Alexander John Buckley Ford.' Ford told last year how it was love at first sight when he saw Mr Buckley at a fashion show in 1986. 
 Ten days later they shared an elevator ride and he said: 'I decided in that elevator ride that I was going to marry him. He ticked every box, and -- boom -- by the time we got to the floor, I was like, 'sold'. 'He seemed so together, so handsome. 
And he really chased me -- not that he had to chase that hard.' He told Out: 'You can look at someone and feel like you've known him forever. 
The first night I ever had drinks with Richard I felt I knew everything about him.' 'I'm someone who likes being part of a couple and always wanted that and always sought that, and it would probably be true for me whether I was gay or straight.' 
Ford - who made waves in film with his 2009 directorial debut starring his close friends Julianne Moore and Colin Firth- added: 'Richard and I are bound together, and I think that's what that recognition is when you look someone in the eyes and you feel like you've known them forever. It is a kind of coming home.'

For his part, Mr Buckley, who has previously battled throat cancer, said: 'I couldn't imagine being without Tom now. I couldn't imagine what I'd be like if something happened to him. 'There's only one Tom for me.'