STORIES
Stories written by same sex parents.
All stories were written in 2016/2017.
the turner family
"The way that Val and I met really is quite the story. We met in Oklahoma at the Army base, Fort Sill. It was our first day of Basic Combat Training. I wasn't interested in a relationship, I was solely there to work. Val just slipped into my heart anyway, despite my best efforts. She was beautiful, kind, so smart, and I quickly realized that she was, by far, the funniest person I had ever met. So, naturally, I fell in love. We have been together ever since. Summer of 2014 we were pregnant. We had always wanted children, we were so very excited. We went through our ups and downs, but we finally got to March 17, 2015. I got to be the first one to hold Elizabeth, one of the top two moments of my life. My wife and I have been through plenty of adversity, but that doesn't phase us too much, because without adversity, we wouldn't be the strong as steel family that we now are. We were finally able to marry on June 26, 2015 when gay marriage was passed across the country (that was also in my top two.) We started out as two kids in the Army together. Now we are U.S. Army Veterans, wives, mommies, and one big family. I'm so in love with, and thankful for my family, my life, and just waking up every day."
the maulden-locke family
Doug and Chris adopted their daughter Mya in 2010. The couple were living in Centreville, Va, where an adoption by an unmarried same-sex couple wouldn’t be recognized, so in 2010 they moved to Rockville. It took them eight months to get through pre-adoption background checks and an extensive home study and just 10 days to find a baby to adopt.
"We were in suits, [our future daughter Mya] was in a dress, the birth mother was there, and the judge said, 'I reviewed the paperwork and I see no other choice but to approve this adoption', it was the happiest words we heard all year. We had been told that a biracial, same-sex couple should expect to wait two to three years to find a willing birth mother, but it was just 10 days later, which is unheard of."
The courts were just as efficient in completing their adoption. The judge was happy to grant the unmarried, same-sex couple the adoption of their daughter.
Chris and Doug have moved back to Virginia since adopting Mya and got legally married on the tenth anniversary of their original commitment ceremony on 11/27/14.
"We love to travel, see live performances, exercise, spend time with extended family, and dance around the house. Over the next few years, we are excited about Mya starting kindergarten, purchasing a new home, travelling, and just loving life."
the thorogood family
"We have been together 9 years, married after 3 years & Dottie arrived 2 years ago.... She was an IUI baby & after 3 failed attempts & 1 miscarriage we were blessed. We love having new adventures, going to the zoo, dressing up, reading, singing & ballet dancing and are huge Disney fans! We are having another baby next year & just want to be happy & healthy as we have everything we need with each other. We are going to Disney in April for my 30th & Dottie's 2nd birthday which will be so special."
the david family
"Simons is now 6 months old and Miller is 3, both conceived by anonymous donor and IUI. We found out when Miller was 15 months old that he has a rare genetic disease called spinal muscular atrophy. In short, it is like ALS for babies. He is slowly losing strength in his muscles. But a cure is very close! It is autosomal recessive, meaning both parents have to be carriers and with each child by those parents there is a 1 in 4 chance of the child having he disease. Simons does not have SMA but is a carrier.
Eason and I met in NYC in 2008-she was living there and I was visiting a friend. A mutual friend had set us up through Facebook and we decided to meet for a coffee. We ended up chatting for about 3 hours and met back up later that night. We dated long distance but didn't go more than 5 days without seeing each other. I moved to NYC 8 months later (I had a flexible job, she did not!). We only lived in NY for a year together before her job transferred her to Atlanta but we went back to NYC to get married in 2011 when it became legal there. We were pregnant with our first son, Miller, then.
We are so grateful for our precious family and wouldn't change a thing (except a cure or treatment so that Miller will not lose any more!)"
the alenier family
Vanessa and Melanie have been together for 10 years. 2 years ago they were 1 of 6 couples in a lawsuit with Equality Florida challenging Florida's ban on same-sex marriage. Their suit was the first to be lifted in Miami Dade County where couples began to marry. They waited to have a private wedding with their son with them in a closed court room on 1/9/15. But this is not the only legal challenge they have faced as a family. Seven years ago, an extended family member of Vanessa's had given birth to a baby boy and DCF told her the baby would go into foster care unless a relative was willing to take him. "Without a doubt in our minds, this was our child. We hoped that even though there was an adoption ban in place against gay people, we would be an exception since he was our blood relative." – Vanessa. But they started completing the adoption paperwork, and came across a question that stated 'Are you a homosexual? If you are, under the Florida statue you cannot adopt.' It took the couple two years of legal battle and a lot of money before Vanessa ultimately won the right to adopt their son, Ethan. On Oct. 27, 2010, the Third District Court of appeals ruled in her favor. Their court case, supported by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, set a precedent that now allows lesbian and gay couples to adopt in the state of Florida. Melanie successfully adopted Ethan in January 2012 through the process known as second-parent adoption. Ethan is third-generation adopted. "My father was adopted by his parents, then when he married my mom he adopted me and, of course, Melanie and I adopted Ethan. Maybe one day Ethan will do the same." – Vanessa.
Melanie says becoming Ethan's parents has been the most rewarding experience of their lives. "The love we have for our son is amazing. The best part is watching him grow and learn every day. And the love he gives back to us with his hugs and kisses or the random 'I love you, Mom.'" – Melanie. The couple don't see themselves as heroes. "We are your normal, everyday, average lesbian couple. We can only hope to make the world a more equal place one day at a time."
the nuvis family
"We are Miguel and Pere from Barcelona. We live in a little town named Sitges. We met about 14 years ago and after 10 years of relationship we decided to get married. Once married we decided to have children so now we have two wonderful twins. We started with the adoption process but it was taking too long so we decided to try surrogacy in India and everything was really smooth and great. They were born in India. We love to travel and discover new places and get to know new cultures. Our only wish is that our kids grow up healthy, happy and become good persons."
the nelson-barone family
"We had the most incredible woman help us create our family! Kathy, our surrogate, gave birth to our son Milo almost two years ago and life has changed ever since! He amazes us everyday just by how he learns and develops, and what kind of mischief he can get into! Now that Milo is a toddler, there is never a dull moment. He keeps us on our toes, and we fall in love with our little man more and more each day! For the future, we hope that Milo grows up happy and healthy, and that we can give him the best life possible!"
the jones family
"Our relationship started Valentine's Day 2014. I got insemimated Friday Jan. 23rd, 2015. We both were overjoyed & both knew exactly what we wanted, a baby boy! We prayed for our little boy. Giving birth to our son, 10.07.15, was the best day of my life because she never left my side. We welcomed Mr. Princeton Ky O'marri! Raising our son for the past four months have been amazing! He makes life worth living & on 12.21.2015, she became my fiancé. Our dream is now a reality & I thank God for them both daily."
the laub family
"My wife & I met working retail and fell in love. We've been together a little over 4 years. We spent 2 years trying to get pregnant with no luck. We took a break from trying and 2 years ago same sex marriage was legalized here. We spent the night outside the courthouse and were married Dec 23, 2014. Shortly after we tried again for a baby and it took. Our son Jacobi is now 1 1/2 years old and has brightened our lives so much. We love to go to the zoo and aquarium. We help promote small/local children's clothing shops. We are in the process of buying our first home and thinking about having one more baby."
the naughton-fogarty family
"Alee and I (Carly) had not long been together when I was told I had a low egg reserve and at the most 12 months left to conceive a baby. I gave Alee the option to leave me since we had only been together a few months or stay with me, but either way I was starting a family. She chose to stay by my side. (It turned out later that the test results were wrong and I actually had a better egg reserve than originally thought). I already knew I required IVF to fall pregnant as I have blocked tubes. We did our first cycle which resulted in two embryos, one transferred and was our first pregnancy, one frozen. I lost our baby 5 weeks later. 40% of our frostie died during thawing and didn't result in pregnancy. Our next cycle ended in 2 embryos, we chose to transfer both. One took and was our second pregnancy. We were told the heartbeat was low at 7 weeks. Our baby fought for another few weeks before we lost that one as well. Our 3rd cycle resulted in 1 embryo which we named Nemo. This resulted in another pregnancy. We tried not to get attached or excited early on but low and behold we had a healthy baby boy, Oakland, in August 2015. He was born with a double ear lobe on one side, we call this his lucky fin! He really was Nemo. The pregnancy was high risk and I had to take daily blood thinning injections for lupus anticoagulant antigen (the cause of our miscarriages) but it was worth it! We have our miracle baby and he is our world. I'm grateful Alee stuck by me as our journey took 2.5 years and I don't know if I could've coped with the losses on my own. Our hopes are that our child can grow and flourish in a world free of hate and discrimination. Being a same sex family, having a biracial baby and being tattooed, we've experienced our share of judgement but hopefully as he grows the world becomes more accepting."
the chain family
"Jessica and I met while working for the same company, and began dating nearly 6 years ago. Jessica had two children from a previous relationship, which to be honest scared the crap out of me. "B" was about to turn 5 and "C" was only 19 months old. I had come from a large family and had always wanted kids, but wasn't sure I could love someone else's children as my own. We decided that we would date for a while before I met the kids, as we wanted to make sure we weren't moving people in and out of their lives. I won't lie and tell you that it was love at first sight (with the kids) for either of us, but I knew immediately that they were people whose love I was willing to work for. Shortly after Jessica and I moved in together "B" and "C"s father no longer wished to co-parent and simply disappeared from our lives. There was never a question in my mind as to whether I would step up or not. Things simply fell into place, and it was as if we had been a family forever. Together we sent our daughter to Kindergarten, played the tooth fairy when she lost her first tooth, and woke up with her when she had nightmares or was sick. Together we watched our once wobbly walker learn to run, talk, use the potty, ride a bike, and accompanied him to his first day of school.
In 2014 Jessica and I got married and began our search for donors, so that we could have another child. Not too long into the search for a donor, one of my extended family members approached us about taking custody of two of her children that had been in and out of foster care for the last three years. For me it was a no brainer, why would I bring another child into the world when there were two right here needing my help? Jessica was a little apprehensive as she was asking herself the same questions I had when meeting "B" and "C" for the first time. We also wanted to make sure we had plenty of input from the two children we already had at home because their lives would be affected just as much as ours. After that first meeting with 2 year old "A" and 3 year old "S" we were all in. Nearly 6 months after the initial contact with the case worker "A" and "S" were ready to come home with us and we couldn't have been more freaked out by the idea of having children who were 8, 4, 3, and 2 years old. As of today we have been a 6 person household for a year and a half, and although there are hectic times we wouldn't have done anything differently.
As for the future, this year I will legally adopt "B" and "C" and both Jessica and I will legally adopt "A" and "S". It has been a long road and although we have been a family from day one, their birth certificates will finally state so. All I hope is that our kids feel loved, safe, and free. We want them to know that the sky is the limit, and we will do whatever it takes to help make their dreams a reality. "B" wants to become a doctor and an artist, "C" wants to become a cop and a pizza man (pizza makes people happy), "S" wants to become a ninja turtle and a police man, and "A" is dead set on being a princess. Whatever tomorrow brings we will be ready, as a family, to conquer."
the engberg family
"Ashley and I met when I returned from training for the United States Navy... The moment I saw her I knew she was it. I had been hurt before and tried pushing her away just to find her fighting harder to keep me around. We married in November 2011 at a state park in front of our closest family and friends. A year later November 2012 we welcomed our first daughter Arabella. I never thought I would ever love someone so small with the amount of love I felt for that little girl, until Scarlett joined us March 2013. Scarlett has special needs but every day continues to blow me away with her beautiful soul. My girls are what my life is, they are my purpose for being here and living each day to its fullest."
the pridemore family
"My wife and I met in 2009 and married in 2011. From early on in our relationship, we talked about children and knew it was something we both wanted. In 2012, we got more serious about our family planning discussions and, after deciding against going with an anonymous donor, we asked a close friend of ours to be our donor. He agreed and we began trying to conceive. In May of 2013, we were pregnant! Our son Ethan was born in February of 2014. We loved being parents from the start and Ethan has exceeded our wildest expectations! When Ethan was about a year and a half, we decided to try for a second child and were successful. We are expecting our second son in June of 2016."
the terrell family
"We are Melissa and Leslie Terrell! We have been together for 9 years and live in Nashville, TN. We have three beautiful children that we are so proud of... Nathan is our 16 year old athlete. Noah is 3 years old and is the sweetest little soul. Then we have Quinn who is almost 1. She has a very big personality and is without a doubt the loudest. Nathan was 7 when Leslie and I started dating. After we got married in 2011 we decided to start trying to get pregnant. We had 5 unsuccessful IUI's before we decided to try using a known donor via a home insemination. Noah and Quinn were both conceived on our first tries via home insemination. We don't feel like our family is quite complete yet and hope to eventually expand our family even more via adoption! This time next year we will know where Leslie will begin her residency and we are prepared to move anywhere! It's nerve wracking not knowing where we'll end up but we are excited! We love to spend time with our friends and family! We have a wonderful group of friends who all have kiddos about the same age that we enjoy hanging out with. I stay home with our kiddos while my wife Leslie is finishing medical school. We stay busy busy busy but couldn't imagine life any other way."
the mcmaster family
"We're Julie, Joy & Lola, from Los Angeles! Julie and I got engaged 'quickly' after dating a short period of time in 2010. We had our dream wedding in Malibu & then got pregnant with our beautiful daughter a month later! We used a "WTBK" donor (not known to us), and got pregnant on the first try with an IUI. Our Lola was born in April 2012 and has been the biggest blessing, she's the perfect mix of the two of us, God truly gave us our baby! Our favorite days are days where it's just us, we cut ourselves out from the world and just stay in a bubble for a day. A fun bubble "our family day" we call it. Just us 3. We go to the zoo, the beach, bike riding, movie nights, vacations and Disney days!
We tried for another baby for over a year, and we are now expecting a baby boy in September!"
the sharkey family
"Dani and I went to high school together but ran with different crowds; she was the star athlete and I was, well, not. Fast forward ten years and we reconnected on Facebook. We fell hard and fast. It didn't take long for us to realize we wanted to have children. The fastest and most cost effective option for us was to foster. We have been certified for two years now and have had 13 children share our home. In November we adopted our daughter, Kendrik, who we have been Mommies to since she was just 6 days old. She is now 20 months, super smart and incredibly funny. It amazes us daily how beautiful and bright she is given the trauma she endured in utero. Our home continues to remain open and we are also currently TTC. It is our hope that we can raise a large family, teaching our kids that they are strong, happy and worthy of the best things in life."
the switzer-wells family
"Ryan and I (Matt) have been together for 12 years and having kids was always part of our relationship journey-- and so was adoption. Three years ago, we officially started that journey via The Cradle in Evanston, IL with an Adoption 101 class. Over the course of the next 18 months we took classes and courses, saved money, moved into a bigger condo, and prepared to be dads. With the courses completed and approval from DCFS we entered the adoption pool ready to wait the 12-18 months that our agency told us was standard for same-sex couples. Four weeks later, we received a referral for twins -- Matthew and Ryleigh (now named Caden Matthew and Declan Ryleigh)-- two healthy babies currently staying in The Cradle's nursery awaiting birth moms final decision. We decided to go for it and submitted our profile and adoption book (a description of our family and approach to adoption). Several days later we received a message saying "all profiles had been released", meaning the birth mom had decided to parent. Given that we were told we would be waiting for 12-18 months, we tried our best to brush it off as an experience and move on. Lucky for us, two days later (on Ryan's birthday), we received a call that birth mom had changed her mind. She had chosen us and she wanted the twins to come home with us 8 days later. We spent the next week trying not to think of how our world could possibly drastically change in a matter of days. During this time, the birth mom still had a chance to change her mind (again) so our councilors advised us to make no solid plans. Buy no clothes, no cribs, NOTHING. Finally the day of the court appointment where birth mom would sign the paperwork came. My parents, Ryan's parents, and a few siblings were gathered in a Starbucks -- over-caffinating and worrying. Finally my phone rang -- it was birth mom telling us congratulations -- we were dads. So with two car seats, two outfits, and nothing else, we started our journey as dads."
the cook-wong family
"Jay and I have been together for 19 years. We met at a club. It was closing hours and we both caught each others eyes. I waved at him and he came over and we started talking. The evening ended kind of romantically too. I carpooled with my friends, so he insisted on driving me back to my friends house to get my car, which is on a hill top over looking the city. Well, that's where we first kissed, with the view of city lights. Both of us knew we wanted kids in the beginning and finally made the move by going through surrogacy. Kai and Jayden completed us as a family. We even started our own surrogacy agency because of this, called Same Love Surrogacy. After gay marriage was passed in California, we had plans to get married on our 18th anniversary, July 12, but since our boys were due right around that same time as well, so we postponed it. They came July 1st. We finally decided to get married on our 20th anniversary, this July 16, so that they can be part of our wedding. By then, they will be two years old and be able to walk too. Definitely life changing, but for the better. Brought us even closer and wanting to be around our kids as much as possible."
the bohrer family
"I met Heather in 2011 when our older son was 16 months old. I had adopted him at birth and when her and I met, she quickly stepped into a mom role with him. We married in 2013 and continued down our path as parents. My wife is a phenomenal mother and our older son thinks she hung the moon. In 2013, we started exploring options of having a sibling for big brother. I cannot get pregnant. Our attempts at getting Heather pregnant were unsuccessful, and in 2014 we had decided that we were meant to be a 1 child family. In October 2014 I posted a status message that said "well, we are not going to continue trying to have a child. We still desperately want a baby together but we aren't seeing an avenue. Please send prayers and good thoughts out there"... in May 2015 we found out that big brother's birth mom was unexpectedly pregnant, 29 weeks along, and wanting us to adopt baby boy. We had 10 weeks to prepare and in July 2015 we were blessed with our sweet and sassy baby boy. In October of 2015, time hop reminded me of the message I had sent out in October of 2014... right around 2 weeks before baby boy was conceived. We are so blessed to live a life of love with our 2 boys and the support of all of our family and friends."
the hudler-burton family
"No matter if you are gay, straight, transgender or bisexual, the path to parenthood is a difficult one. One of ups and downs. But, regardless, it is the absolutely most fulfilling thing, you can do with your life.
The "gay" age old questions... How? Whose?
"My health is better" one would say.
"But, do you really want to pass your grandfathers hairline on? For another generation to endure?!?" Another might confess!
Then the thought of all the children that have families (just as crazy) But, they need a home. As much (if not more) as we wanted one in our family.
The choice was clear! We would adopt! But, the ever changing laws in 2015 (with the "Supremes" hearing arguments on gay marriage) we decided to take the more costly route of private adoption.
As we said, all individuals have their own struggles. We had several failed adoptions, due to location, sex of child and simple clerical error.
As they say though... Your child is out there, waiting for you. And she was! Perfect in every way! (Some even say she has Clint's eyes).
Everyday with her is a blessing! She gave us love we did not know we could feel. She is more than we could hope for. And, definitely more than we deserve.
We can't help but want to make her eyes open to every opportunity, every situation and let her be surrounded by a diverse group of people. She deserves to live the life she wants. We all do!
Disclosure: We may take advantage of dressing her up, until she says no!
Our daughter Danica already takes after her Papa and Daddy and is absolutely boy crazy! She has skipped walking and went straight for running. After other boys! (Bless our hearts).
When not chasing other toddler boys around. Danica can be found at the beach or zoo. Her middle name has been a self fulfilling prophecy (Ocean) as she loves the water!
We love doing all things! As we said, we want our daughter to be a free thinker. Our next planned outing (other than the Menil collection in Houston) is to attend the World Down Syndrome Day Celebration. We hope to instill love and compassion. Not to mention the appropriation of the different ways we may live our journey. It was all easy until parenting! The purity of her love, makes staying home with her; not just an option. But a necessity."
the archangel family
"Jasmine and I met via a mutual friend in 2005 and began dating in 2008! On my 27th birthday I proposed to her on the steps of Jackson Square in our favorite spot in New Orleans. I was so eager to marry her and couldn't wait for the chance so 3 months later we took a road trip to NYC with our bffs and tied the knot on July 19, 2012! A year later we purchased our home! After Jasmine promising me we would be pregnant or adopt by her 30th birthday, we decided to add children to our two furry kids Crispay and Cinnabun in a unique way! We became foster parents while taking care of our great niece! We had five kids at one time with one of the five becoming legally our child! On June 17, 2015 we adopted our son Lane!! We continue to foster and hope to adopt our current foster child while being huge advocates for the foster care system! LIVE FREE is our motto!! Much love!"
the thoma family
"We are the Thoma Family. Liz and I met while she was visiting Colorado from Iowa. She uhauled it to Denver a few months later and it was happily ever after.... We've been married for 3 years, we have a 2 year old daughter named Lola, whom I carried. My wife, Liz is currently 7 months pregnant with our son. We used the same anonymous donor for both kids via IUI. Parenthood isn't easy but it sure is amazing!!! We feel so blessed. They are my dream come trues."
Liz has now given birth to a handsome baby boy named Jones!
the courtney-browne family
"We're two mums from Australia, raising our 18 month old son. We met over a decade ago in a gay bar and immediately hit it off. This year we will be celebrating our 3 year wedding anniversary.
We conceived Oscar through IVF and plan to add to our family later in the year. We believe in fun, messy play and teaching empathy from a young age. We're trying hard to follow a Danish style of parenting and truly believe that play is the best form of learning. We really just want to raise the happiest child we can! We take on mini adventures daily but in a few weeks we will be taking our champ on his first flight to our sister country, New Zealand. We've met some wonderful families that are just like ours via Instagram and we can't wait to connect with even more over the coming years."
the duncan-robinson family
"Me (fem Ashlee) and my wife (stud Jessica) have been together 8 years now, married since 2013 and we have 2 kids. We are from Florida. We met at work in 2008. Our daughter (Akita) is 11 and our son (Jace) is 4. I am from Guam and my wife is from South Carolina, but we met in Florida. I am an account specialist for a women's clothing store. My wife is a detective for the local sheriffs office. I'm 27 and she is 35. I had my daughter with another woman before her ! (she was planned as well with a close friend donor) and as for our son we did "at home insemination" with a close friend donor. He is my bff so he is in our sons life as "Uncle Eric". As far as hopes I would like my daughter to the best her she can be. She is going to make a difference in this world. She would like to be a singer (she was in gymnastics and won 1st place all around she did great but she got out to start singing). And same hopes for my son, he wants to play basketball and we want to retire and move to South Carolina. We got married on a cruise to Mexico with some close friends and our pastor came with us so it worked out well. It was not a planned wedding until the week of so we rushed to get things together which family members helped out with and it was beautiful."
the ordonez family
"We're Joice, Mika and Gavin from the Philippines! Our story is definitely unique. A couple of years ago, I was still a single mother, and just recently discovered that Gavin, my son, had autism. I didn't know what to do. I was lost on how to make things "better" or "work". One morning, Joice messaged me on facebook. She mentioned that we were batchmates back in grade school. She said that she saw my post and she told me that she wanted to help me with Gavin. She's my life saver! In no time, Joice became Gavin's Occupational Therapist and my bestfriend. Then Christmas 2013, we went on a date. Watched a movie, had dinner, had a couple of drinks and start to have googly eyes for each other. We fell so in love with our little family that we have formed. Today, we're happily engaged and planning for Gavin to have a baby sister. Life is good."
the waterman family
"We are Jamie, Cortlyn and Carter from Buffalo, NY! Jamie and I met in the summer of 2011 and quickly got engaged in February with a wedding in August of 2012. We knew that a family was in our future and with no time to spare, we quickly began our journey 5 months later. After 6 consecutive IUIs, Jamie was pregnant with our son. Her pregnancy was a breeze with no complications. Carter was born May 2014. October of 2014 I started trying to conceive our second child. After 5 IUIs, we decided to take a break and offer a gift to our friends who lost their son at 32w gestation. Last August we had our first transfer (2 embryos) for Jamie to be a surrogate for our friends. At 6w she had a miscarriage. In November, we transferred 2 more embryos and got the news a week later that Jamie was pregnant. Around 8w one embryo did not continue development. This past spring I tried another round of IUI and a round of IVF which were both unsuccessful. Today (June 23) Jamie is 34w pregnant with a little girl for our friends. We have relocated to Tampa for the birth of their daughter. We are undecided what our next steps of family building will be but we're anxious to get the ball rolling once we are back home in NY. Thanks for sharing our story!"
the bailey family
"We met in 2003 at BYU after retuning home from serving church missions. Seemingly the most unlikely place to meet your better half. We experienced it all that first year with our church and school. Moved to Atlanta to get away from it all and out down roots. My wife carried our eldest and I carried our son, who passed away last year, and our triplets that are 3 months old. I would walk through it all again to be where I am today. 12 years never felt so good. I love my family!"
the henderson-strong family
"Anthony and I met 11 years ago on phone chat line. After leaving several messages back and forth I decided to invite him over. We immediately hit it off, on his way home he called and we talked for 4 hours into the early morning. 7 years into our relationship we started talking about children and were on the same page and decided to start the foster/ adopt process in LA. After getting all the classes, background checks and home inspection out of the way the rest went fairly smooth.
About two days after becoming certified we received a call about a 3 year old boy who needed a home, so we did a visit and he stole our hearts from day one. He's joyful, loving and so bright. We smile just talking about him. We like to do normal family things like going to parks, travelling. Our son loves pools so we take him swimming every time we can squeeze it into our hectic schedule. We recently moved to Atlanta and have started the process of adopting two more."
the barker-bowie family
"Delaine and I met back in New Zealand in our first year of high school. We quickly became good friends and became girlfriends about three years later. We have been together pretty much ever since and just had our 23rd anniversary. How time flies. We keep throwing ideas about for a wedding, it may happen sometime in the next year or two. We love the idea that our children can all be there and a part of it, celebrating with us.
We both knew we wanted to travel, so back in 2001 we left NZ and moved to the UK. We had planned to spend a year or two here, working, travelling and exploring Europe. 15 years later we are very much settled, with three children, a house, two dogs and a few chickens. We really do love London and all that she has to offer.
About 7 years ago we began trying for a baby, something we had wanted for a very long time. We have had reciprocal IVF, four cycles and have three amazing children. Twins Beatrix and Luca are 4 and our baby Rocco is almost 18 months. I am not ruling out more children, but we may wait a wee while, take a few more European holidays and try to catch up on a little sleep before leaping back into those delightful, yet tiring days with a newborn. A move back to New Zealand is on the cards soon too, prompted by the fact our children are getting closer to school age and we realise we can have a pretty awesome lifestyle there. Some big decisions to be made.
Thanks for listing. I hope I haven't babbled too much."
the jones-evans family
"My partner and I worked with one another and hit it off from there! We had our son about 6 years into our relationship as we felt it was the best time for us to begin our family. We'd love at least one more in the future. But, right now we are very focused on having our home built and once we have stabilized there, we will move forward with our growing family. We love spending time with one another and traveling! It's such a joy to be together with just us or our extended family."
the manfredi family
"My wife Mia and I met our freshman year of High school and began dating 4 years later. We have been together 14 years and married 4. My wife Mia carried our daughter, Giselle and she is now almost 2 years old. We love to travel, start home projects, explore our hometown in Kansas and try to live gently as a plant based family. We would love to have one more child and ideally live on the west coast, as it better aligns with our views. We just believe in loving and living every day to the fullest together."
the moradel family
"We met in a university class and she "asked" if I wanted her number as she was typing it into my phone she had grabbed, that I never noticed. I didn't wait long, I texted her the same night. Now here we are 6 years later with two kids under 5 and a puppy.
We had our kids via IUI through a clinic here in Calgary, AB Canada. Jenna carried both children (long blonde hair), and was lucky enough to get pregnant with the first 2 attempts with both babies!
Our hopes and plan for our future is that momma, (short dark hair), will be starting her masters soon, we will one day move closer to the ocean, and that number one, our kids grow up loving equally, feeling loved and are kind and giving humans.
Love is Love."
the abdullah-malizio family
(Left to right:Jamie, Maiyah, Abby, Jamison)
"Jamie and I are both serving in the US Air Force as Security Forces. We met while being stationed at McGuire AFB, NJ. I was a Combat Arms instructor and she was attending weapon classes before her first deployment. We met in Mar/Apr 2013 and hit it off right away. Maiyah born 16 Sep 2011 was already in the picture from a previous relationship (not same sex and not in the picture) but Jamie fell in love with her as if she was her own. Upon her return I proposed to her in an airport in Maryland Oct 2013. She then proposed to me Nov 2013. We got married in Maine August 7, 2014. October 2014 we PCS'd to Lackland AFB, TX where we currently live. We wanted another child and decided to do a reciprocal IVF with me carrying and her egg. Jamison was born 10 Nov 2015 and met her mom (Jamie) for the first time May 1st 2016 due to another deployment.
We love going on massive road trips, flying, eating yummy food, and making awesome friends all over. We plan on traveling the world and experiencing all we can with this life we live. And hopefully one day I can convince my wife to let us adopt a little boy!"
the west family
"Jonathan and I met in 2005 for the first time in Florida and were married in Vermont in 2012. We started our journey to fatherhood that same year while I was stationed in California with the US Army. It took us almost three years and a number of failed adoption to get where we are today, but we were able to adopt our youngest daughter this past May and hope to finalize the adoption of our oldest daughter early next year. They're only six weeks apart, so it's quite literally like having twins. It's an amazing amount of work, but we wouldn't change a thing. We love to travel as a family and hope to do it full time in the near future upon my discharge from the military."
the darrow family
"My wife and I met at San Francisco pride in 2010 through mutual friends. We were married in 2011, and started attempting to get pregnant in October 2011. We tried for 2 years with my wife and then we decided that I would try as well. I got pregnant on the first try and we decided my wife would try the next month. The next month she got pregnant. Babies Logan and Leo are 6 weeks apart. We used the same known donor who is also a part of their life. We currently have no plans for additional children. But will consider fostering once my wife is done with medical school. The kiddos call me Dada and my wife Mama."
the hernandez family
"We met online 6 yrs ago, and we both knew we wanted kids.
We tried getting pregnant for 10 months and it wasn't happening, so we switched gears.. I have Pcos and we knew it would be harder for me, so we thought... Found an amazing fertility specialist and I took clomid and an injectables medicine.. Tries 1-3 had great mature follicles (4-8 of them) and did not get pregnant.. 4th try we had 3 mature follicles and we pushed the IUI a day later. Then 12 days later got what we thought was my period. So we thought we weren't pregnant. Day 14 I felt off and took another pregnancy test and it was positive! We were shocked!!! 6 week ultrasound found three very strong heartbeats, needless to say we were really shocked. Now as a family of 5 we enjoy road trips, Disneyland, travel and camping, the boys thrive being outside and love adventure. Three 3 year old boys can be tough especially on a marriage but we are weathering through!
We hope to be able to provide our kids with lots of travel opportunities. We hope to one day buy our own home and for our business to grow more (we run a small daycare hoping to open a big center)."
the vander-wielen family
"Ash and I have been together for nearly eight years now. We met at a local Cafe that provided a safe haven for the LGBT community.
We became engaged and were domestically partnered shortly before our first daughter was born. When she was nearly three, we had our actual wedding.
A few years later, we were legally wed before the birth of our second daughter.
Ash works outside the home and I stay home with the girls. We are a homeschool family and we love it!
Ash and I have had some incredibly difficult and challenging times, but we've remained best friends through it all and kept things afloat when we wanted to bow out.
We have also had some amazing and wonderful times! She is my best friend, my biggest supporter and my safe place - no matter what. She is also the best Mama ever!
We live in Wisconsin with our growing girls (6 and nearly 2), a dog named Kevin, a cat named George and a bunny named Daisy!"
the casey family
"We are the Casey's. We met in 2009 and been together ever since. Our beautiful daughter will be 3 in May. We are truly blessed beyond measure. Abigail is the light of our life. We decided to add to our growing family and hopefully with the insemination this month we will be able to. Life isn't about having it all, it's about having that one to stand by you through life's ups and downs."
the staden-romero family
"My wife and I (Christina is my wife, my name is Keena) have been together for 13 years. We have been married for almost 1 year. We knew from the beginning of our relationship that we wanted to have kids but knew we weren't ready at such a young age. So when I turned 30 we tried an unmedicated IUI and we got pregnant!! We were overjoyed and just couldn't believe it!! Unfortunately at about 9 weeks I had a miscarriage. We were devastated and just so heart broken! We decided to wait about 7 months before we tried again. We did another unmedicated IUI and I got pregnant again! This pregnancy went great and we had a healthy 9lbs 1oz beautiful baby boy named Mateo!! Labor went great. It only took 9 hours!! Our lives changed so much the day this little crazy man was born. We plan to try again next July for baby #2!! This has been such an amazing journey and I can't wait to see what else life has instore for us!!"
the nuque-bautista family
"My partner and I have been together 16 years after meeting as teenagers overseas. We had a 5 year long distance relationship until I was able to sponsor her to come to Australia. We struggle for our family to accept us. They thought we were not serious about our relationship. However against all odds we got through. In 2010 in front of our family and friends we declared our love for each other. The same year we did our first try of IVF. 3 days after our commitment ceremony we found out we were pregnant! We did it! Not knowing what was ahead of us we were going to be a family of 3. After 3 years we wanted to give Diego a sibling. After numerous tries and 4 failed attempts we wanted to take a break from the emotional and financial stress. Then we decided to give it one more try in July 2016. And we did it!
We are so blessed to have been given another miracle. Funny thing is our little boy started spreading the news that he will be a big brother to a little baby girl before we even found out!"
the ramos-egan family
"In February 2006, at 24, I moved to Florida with my 2 year old son. I got a job waitressing and met Jeanne. We instantly clicked and became friends. In September we both realized we had feelings for each other and instantly Uhauled it...lol.... About 2 years into our relationship we decided to start looking for a sperm donor to have a baby. We found a donor and started inseminating at home. After 2 years trying on and off again with no luck we took a little break. I never imagined it would be so hard to get pregnant. We found a new donor and within five solid months of trying I became pregnant. Sadly we ended up losing the pregnancy. Devastated we decided to try again immediately and became pregnant with our daughter. We were overjoyed to finally have our baby after 3 years of trying. When she was 10 months old we decided to start trying again in case it ended up taking another 3 years. Surprisingly we became pregnant on the first try which was amazing after all we had been through to have our first daughter. Now we have our 3 kiddos and feel beyond blessed to have our family. We will celebrate 11 years together this November!"
