LGBT History Month – Featured Families: Adopting Mummy

Our second Featured Family segment features Adopting Mummy, and she talks about her family and how tough TTC was.
We’ve followed Adopting Mummy through quite a tough TTC journey, and then their adopting journey. We’re lucky enough now to call them our friends.
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1) Who are you?
We are adopting mummy and wife. We live in the UK.
2) How long have you been together?
Well over a decade now.
3) Where did you meet?
Randomly, in a club. A mutual friend introduced us.
4) How many children do you have?
2
5) What’s the best thing about being a parent?
Watching our children grow in every way that they do. Our little people are completely different to the ones that came home.
6) What challenges, if any, have you faced as a same-sex family?
No real challenges here (yet). People assume that our kids have a dad but the kids correct them. We were worried about school but no one seemed to bat an eye-lid!
7) Has it been easy to teach your children about diversity? Have they encountered any problems?
We have lots of books that talk about differences in people and family structures and are very open with both of our children. They will now ask us pretty much anything because they know that we’ll answer them as honestly as we can.
8) What would be your message to a young person “coming out” today?
You may feel as though you’re alone but you are far from it. Millions of us have worked towards where we are now, be true to yourself and don’t make excuses for people who may treat you badly. If someone doesn’t come around within a few weeks/months, don’t let that drag you down.
9) What would be your message to a couple starting out on the TTC journey?
Don’t let it come between you. We tried to conceive for getting on for 3 years and we made that mistake. When we finally realised that it probably wasn’t going to happen for us, it was a relief.
Adoption had been on our radar for over 10 years already so we decided to skip ahead and persue that option instead.
TTC doesn’t work for everyone but it doesn’t mean that you can’t have the family you’ve always wanted, it just means that you may have to look in a different place.
9a) How about those especially worried about persecution?
Some people will never truly accept you for who you are. Make sure that you have a strong support network around you.
10) What does LGBT History mean to you?
I get emotional when I think of how far we’ve come and how many people have lost their lives in one way or another during the fight. If it wasn’t for our collective history, our family wouldn’t exist. Wife and I might not have ever met and we would not have our children. We are who we are because of our history.
11) Where can we find you?
Twitter @AdoptingMummy and the blog is in the bio 🙂
Thank you to Adopting Mummy for sharing. I really enjoyed reading about the determination to find their family. It will no doubt reassure other couples that there are other avenues to explore when creating a family.
This post is part of a month long celebration for LGBT history month. If you’d like to get involved, tweet using the hashtag #LGBTHM or find one of your local LGBT groups on Facebook and find out how they’re celebrating LGBT History Month.
