Dolce And Gabbana insist they didn't intend to ''judge other people's choices'' in their remarks about IVF.

The designers have spoken out after stars including Ricky Martin, Ryan Murphy, John Barrowman and Sharon Stone backed Sir Elton John - who has Zachary, three, and 23-month-old Elijah with his husband David Furnish - when he called for a boycott against the company for ''opposing'' same-sex families and branding kids conceived via fertility treatment as ''synthetic''.

Stefano Gabbana has now said: ''We talked about our way of seeing reality, but it was never our intention to judge other people's choices. We do believe in freedom and love.''

And his design partner, Domenico Dolce, said while his own family was ''traditional'', that did not ''imply that I don't understand different ones''.

He added: ''I was talking about my personal view, without judging other people's choices and decisions.''

Following their original remarks, in which they said they ''oppose gay adoptions because ''the only family is the traditional one'' and that ''life has a natural flow, there are things that should not be changed,'' Elton took to Instagram to slam the pair.

He wrote: ''How dare you refer to my beautiful children as ''synthetic''. And shame on you for wagging your judgemental little fingers at IVF - a miracle that has allowed legions of loving people, both straight and gay, to fulfil their dream of having children.

''Your archaic thinking is out of step with the times, just like your fashions. I shall never wear Dolce and Gabbana ever again. #BoycottDolceGabbana (sic).''

Ricky Martin - who become a father via gestational surrogacy in August 2008 to Matteo and Valentino - also took to his Twitter account to ask them to ''wake up'' and stop spreading so much hate in this day and age, while Sharon Stone urged people to use the comments as a way of asking how they can do more for children in need.

The 'Basic Instinct' star - who has three adopted sons, Roan, 14, Laird, nine, and eight-year-old Quinn - said: We must meet this type of cruelty towards children who are in need and want homes and families with love and open homes,'' she said in a statement to E! News. ''We must meet these type of behaviours with thoughts turned inward towards ourselves. 'How can I give more to a child in need, how can I do more for the children of this world who need more and deserve more?'

''To spend time raging against a closed mind is to waste oneself, a self that can be better spent loving where that love is has been removed from. To dismiss modern medicine as it helps loving people become loving parents is to dismiss all of the miracles of modern medicine.''