Preloading

Ricky Martin: "My Kids Gave Me All the Strength to Come Out"

Aired on 11/02/2010 | CC tv-pg
On August 6, 2008, Ricky Martin became a father. A surrogate gave birth to his twin boys, Matteo and Valentino, setting in motion Ricky's decision to come out in 2010. Fatherhood, Ricky said, fundamentally changed the way he saw the truth about his sexual orientation.

Later that year, he made an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show and opened up about his announcement: "My kids gave me all of the strength to come out. First of all, I had to because I couldn't take it anymore, but who gave me that final push was definitely my children. Because if I didn't come out for them, what, was I going to be teaching them how to lie? I don't want my family to be based on lies. I want to be transparent to them. I want them to be proud of their dad. I want them to be proud of themselves, of their family."

Here, Ricky opens up about his profound shift in thinking, and invites Oprah's cameras into his Florida home to get an inside look at his day-to-day family life.