NEW YORK ( CNN ) -- Jeff Walker says from as far back as he can remember , he always wanted to be a father . Jeff Walker , with his two daughters , tried to adopt , but ultimately turned to surogacy to build a family . `` It was always something I knew , from the time I was a child . '' Just like his 3-year-old daughter , Elizabeth , who says she wants to be a mommy someday , Jeff says , `` I knew I wanted to be a daddy . '' Walker , a Manhattan music executive , says he and his partner had talked about adopting a baby years ago . But after three emotionally draining , failed attempts at adoption , they decided to turn to surrogacy . They contacted Circle Surrogacy , a Boston agency that specializes in gay clients . Their child was conceived with a donor egg , and then the embryo implanted in the surrogate , or carrier . After Elizabeth was born , Walker and his partner separated . He then made a critical decision -- to become a dad again , single , and by choice . `` I realized my family , my two-dad family was going to look different than I thought it was going to look , '' he said . Without a partner , he would face even steeper challenges raising Elizabeth and a sibling alone . Walker says he gave the decision a lot of thought . `` That was the only part that was really controversial , because I do think there are a lot of challenges that single parents face , but at the same time I felt I was capable of handling those challenges , '' he said . His second daughter , Alexandra , was born two years ago to the same surrogate , implanted with an egg from a different donor . Walker , 45 , is one of a growing number of single men -- both gay and straight -- who are opting to become fathers alone , with the help of gestational surrogacy . Surrogacy experts say because the practice is not regulated , many surrogacy arrangements are handled privately by individuals . Precise figures are hard to come by , but experts say there 's no doubt the United States is experiencing a surrogacy baby boom . Celebrities like Ricky Martin and Clay Aiken announced this year they had had babies with the help of surrogates and the the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology , representing scores of reproductive clinics , reports that the number of gestational surrogate births in the country quadrupled between 1996 and 2006 . Watch more on the surrogacy boom » . Surrogacy experts say gestational surrogacy has increased steadily since the advent of in vitro fertilization in the early 1980s , because it provides an extra layer of emotional and legal protection for the client . The egg donor usually does not even know the client , and unlike the legally contentious `` Baby M '' case from the 1980s , the surrogate is not giving birth to her genetic child . `` It rises as an issue far less frequently with gestational surrogacy , because women never see it as their child to begin with , '' said John Weltman , president of Circle Surrogacy . His agency , which expects more than 70 babies to be born in 2009 , has seen a 50 percent growth in the number of single male clients over the past year . Walker and other men are willing to pay well over $ 100,000 to have a baby through surrogacy -- the final cost depending on the number of IVF treatments necessary and how much is paid by insurance . Circle is not the only major surrogacy provider experiencing a single-dad surge . At Growing Generations , a Los Angeles , California , agency that facilitates about 100 births a year , the number of single men seeking surrogates has doubled in the past three years , spokeswoman Erica Bowers said . Although most of their single male clients are gay , surrogacy providers say a smaller but growing number are straight . Steven Harris , a New York malpractice and personal-injury attorney , says he gave up trying to get married when he realized his primary motive was to start a family . Harris , 54 , says he knew he made the right decision after 21-month old Ben was born . `` I thought getting married was the only way to go , because I did want a family . But having Ben , I feel complete now , '' Harris says .
Single men who want children find surrogate births better option than adoption . Most such fathers are gay , but straight men use surrogacy as well . Clay Aiken , Ricky Martin are high-profile single dads who used surrogates . Surrogate does n't provide egg , making it less likely she 'll see child as hers .