Our Little Boy
By Jay* dad of Clark
We are an adoptive couple, Jeannot (Papa) and Jay (Daddy), and we have been together 14 years. Earlier in our relationship we started talking about having a child. We discussed all possible options: surrogacy, private and international adoption. At long last in September 2006 we decided to proceed with an application to our local Children’s Aid Society (CAS). We felt that adopting an older child in need of a family was the right thing to do for us.
We joined a gay and lesbian parenting support group, “Rainbow Families,” in October 2006 in hopes to hear the challenges that other same-sex parents were facing. We have made some special friends, learned a lot, and feel that it is so important that our child grows up seeing similar families.
We received a call from CAS asking us to complete a homestudy and our journey began November 1, 2006. We had a number of visits from a social worker who interviewed us as individuals and as a couple. It was somewhat stressful and overwhelming but really exciting! We were enrolled in the CAS-run mandatory parenting classes that proved very valuable. Once our classes and interviews were complete, the hard part started — the wait!
Our “Big Call’ came May 18 of this year. Our social worker gave us a quick background of a little boy who was just one year old. We met the following week with our social worker to review the complete profile, including the reasons why he was in care. He was premature and had many specialists involved in his life. There were certain risks and unknowns such as his prenatal care, including possible drug and alcohol use.
We had a tough decision to make. After much soul-searching we knew in our hearts that this was our son! Once we told our decision to the social worker the transition began immediately. The whole process went very smoothly and our son, Clark, who came home June 29, is thriving! We feel truly blessed. We can’t thank everyone enough or stress adequately how much we recommend this process. We are very proud to have adopted a local child and hope that we will continue to hear many success stories like ours.
*last name withheld by request
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What a lovely story. I wish your family much joy in the years to come. I encourage you to consider having a second child. As a teacher (and a mother) I have come to see how important siblings are.