Dave & Adam's Foster to Adoption Success Story

My husband and I did not experience discrimination with Colorado State or our local County Government Foster/Adopt organization called the Collaborative Foster Care Program. This is a Tri-County department including Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson County Colorado. This is a model program! We are also very supported by our local and State elected officials especially Colorado State Senator Jeff Sessions who has been in our home several times including an impromptu game of soccer with our son in the backyard. 

My family is an overwhelming success story. My husband and I met 15 years ago. We have been legally married for 10 years. We always knew that we wanted to be parents and we felt foster to adopt would be the best option for our family. Adam is a decorated Iraq War Veteran who served in the Navy and is currently serving as a Nurse Manager for a local hospital. Dave is a veteran law enforcement-supervising officer serving with a local police agency. When we moved to Colorado we actually sought out a County organization that had a specific Anti-Discrimination policy and that is what we found with the Collaborative Foster Care Program. Our initial intention was to foster children, however what was a two week placement turned into a lifetime with our son, Zion. We were Zion's fifth home in less than a year and all he needed to thrive was to feel safe and loved. Zion had extreme behaviors when he came into our care and significant developmental delays. Throughout the foster and adoption process, we felt supported and valued as a family. We became strong advocates for our son, who is now thriving as a typical child attending a publicly funded performing arts academy. Although our family is unique in its makeup, our son is proud that he has two dads and is very vocal about it. We frequently speak to other prospective foster families about the process and to be advocates on behalf of the Collaborative Foster Care Program to encourage other LGBTQ families to become foster or adoptive parents.

Denying any qualified family from opening their home to a child for any reason other than safety is not supporting a community and only further harms children. No credible scientific study has shown that LGBTQ parents are less successful than a heterosexual couple in providing a loving, supportive, and safe home to a child. In the State of Colorado we do not have enough qualified homes for foster care or to adopt in order to meet the overwhelming needs of our communities to place children into a safe, loving, stable, supportive and nurturing environment.