Adoptive lesbian moms Bianca Monreal and Tonie Alfonso, profiled at HuffPo, said that they believe gay people are particularly suited to be adoptive parents.
The California moms finalized the adoption of their 18-month-old foster son Jacob last month. They told HuffPo, “Getting through this process, keeping our relationship solid through the ups and downs, and ultimately being placed with the most precious little boy imaginable, has brought us closer not only to each other but to our family, friends, and community.”
They also said:
We believe that gay individuals/couples have a unique and innate ability to meet the needs of these children. We know what it’s like to be different, to face opposition, and tackle challenges. We also know how to be resilient and celebrate life in spite of what others may think. Adopted children need a strong family that will empower them to embrace rather than hide their stories. They also need parents that will advocate for them and teach them that from adversity and challenge come love and humanity.
I might quibble with “unique” (gay people don’t have an exclusive on being different) but I think their general sentiment is spot on. Go read the rest of their interview and check out the wonderful photos of their family. (I love the one of them holding their son up in the air between them. Such joy!)
Monreal and Alfonso were interviewed as part of the “Let Love Define Family” campaign from RaiseAChild.US, a non-profit whose purpose is to “educate and encourage the LGBT community to build families through fostering and adoption to answer the needs of the 400,000 children in our nation’s foster care system.” The campaign, for National Adoption Month, also includes a five-city tour, radio and television PSAs (with Saum and co-star Maia Mitchell), and outdoor advertising in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Long Beach, California. In addition to their outreach and education work, the organization runs a Parent Advocate program to help families navigate the foster care and adoption system.
Other family interviews in the series include actor Sherri Saum (who isn’t a lesbian adoptive mom, but plays one on ABC Family’s The Fosters ), Missouri dads Eric Charles-Gallo and Louis Gallo, and Rich Valenza and his partner Jared. (Valenza is the founder and CEO of RaiseAChild.US.)
The campaign makes a nice counterpoint to the Allies for Adoption campaign from the Family Equality Council that I wrote about the other day. Allies for Adoption seeks to remove the legal barriers to LGBT people becoming adoptive parents; Let Love Define Family seeks to encourage us to do so.