Sir Elton John and his civil partner David Furnish are celebrating the birth of their first child, born to a surrogate on Christmas Day.

Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, was born in the United States. In a statement released to magazine Us Weekly, the couple said: “We are overwhelmed with happiness and joy at this very special moment. Zachary is healthy and doing really well, and we are very proud and happy parents.”

Details of the mother have not been released. Zachary weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces (3.6kg).

John, 63, and Canadian film-maker Furnish, 48, have been together since the early 1990s. They were among the first couples to register their civil partnership on the day the they were introduced in England and Wales. “From the word go, he [Furnish] wasn’t in awe of me,” Sir Elton told Piers Morgan during an ITV special this month. “He was always going to tell me the truth. We’ve had a couple of rows but we never go to bed without sorting it out. We never go to bed angry with one another. He’s my soul-mate, he’s the person I speak to first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Every week since we’ve met, we send each other a card. If I’m in America, I courier him a card and he couriers one to me, so that every Saturday we open a card and express our love for each other.”

In 2009, Sir Elton and Mr Furnish considered adopting a Ukrainian boy called Lev. At the time, Sir Elton said: “David and I have always talked about adoption, David always wanted to adopt a child and I always said ‘no’ because I am 62 and I think because of the travelling I do and the life I have, maybe it wouldn’t be fair for the child.

“But having seen Lev today, I would love to adopt him. I don’t know how we do that but he has stolen my heart. And he has stolen David’s heart and it would be wonderful if we can have a home. I’ve changed my mind today.”

In the end, they were unsuccessful and it is believed that they then began the process to surrogate their own child. It is not clear which of the pair is the biological father.