Two Gay Penguins Steal Egg to Become Fathers

A pair of gay penguins in the Netherlands have found a path to parenthood -- stealing an egg.

Marc Belt, a zookeeper at the DierenPark zoo in Amersfoort, said two African penguins apprehended an egg laid by a female penguin in the same exhibit space.

"Homosexuality is fairly common in penguins, but what makes this couple remarkable is that they have gotten hold of an egg," Belt told DutchNews.

It remains unclear if the egg will hatch; no one knows at this point if the egg was fertilized before being adopted by the two hopeful dads. But the male penguins appear to be taking good care of the egg.

"The gay couple are looking after the egg very well and take turns in keeping it warm," Belt said.

Of course, the Dutch birds aren't the first penguins in captivity to seek out the #gaydad life.

In Australia, gentoo penguin pops Sphen and Magic were given a neglected egg at the Sea Life Sydney and hatched it last year. The birth of Sphengic actually became a plot point in the newest season of Atypical on Netflix. Earlier this month, the zoo announced it would give another egg to the fathers to foster.

Male penguins Skipper and Ping at the Berlin Zoo more recently were given an abandoned egg to care for. But that egg turned out not to be fertilized.

Perhaps it's no shock that the trend in the penguin exhibit world would lead a gay couple to take matters into their own wings.