Fashion designer-filmmaker Tom Ford and his partner Richard Buckley are dads.

The 51-year-old Ford and Buckley, 64, on Friday announced the September 23 birth of their son, Alexander John Buckley Ford. The Daily Mail reported that the baby was born via surrogate in Los Angeles.

Ford and Buckley have been together 25 years.

A tweet from Love magazine broke the news: “Congratulations to Tom Ford and Richard Buckley who have announced the birth of their son Alexander John Buckley Ford.”

Last year, Ford said that if he decided to have a child, he would shield him or her from the media.

“I always said I wanted to have children,” Ford told Time Out Hong Kong. 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. 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.”

Ford's 2009 big screen adaptation of Christopher Isherwood's A Single Man garnered an Academy Award nomination for its star, Colin Firth.