[Australia] - Inspirational Gay Dads Create Family by Foster Care

Foster Care by GLBTI people in Australia is something we hear little about in the media - and it is a shame.  There are some amazing stories of wonderful GLBTI people in our community, becoming foster care parents and giving hope, happiness and stability to many children in need.

Recently, I spoke to a gay couple from Canberra and their experience at foster care.  Having tried unsuccessfully to become parents via surrogacy, the couple, Jason and Danny embarked on the journey that is foster care.

"While we live in Canberra, we have been in Sydney for a number of the GayDads get-togethers and have met many wonderful Dads and children - however, most stories have been about surrogacy.  We have our own unsuccesful surrogacy story, but now we have a great fostering story to share.

We have decided to share our fostering story to show that fostering can be a positive and rewarding experience, and an alternate route to being a Dad. We started caring for our son (when he was 11 months old), 6 months after first contacting Barnardos to enquire about fostering.

Our foster-journey began in May 2012 with us attending a Barnardos information session, we immediately knew we'd be suited to fostering, so we enrolled in the prequisite training courses (first aid and a cert IV in child, youth and family intervention) and began our interviews the following week.

In August 2012, we had completed all requirements and were approved as foster carers, we then went on a 6 week "fostermoon" in Asia. 

Following our return, it took 4 weeks for the government paperwork to come through, and in mid October we started caring part-time for Michael - he has been in our care full-time since early November 2012.

We have monthly visits from the agency - and we love chatting about Michael's development over a cup of coffee (what parent doesn't love talking about their children).  There is constant paperwork, but it is not overly-demanding, and reduces in time.

We are now exploring options regarding "Enduring Parental Responsibilty" and "Adoption" - this all takes time, and in the meantime, we are loving being Dads. Maybe in 2014, we'll approach Barnardos and seek a sibling for our son".

We would recommend others consider fostering, and our advice is: "Don't be afraid to say No, and be clear and honest in what you are doing and why"

I think it is absolutely wonderful what Jason and Danny are doing.  Creating their own Rainbow Family, giving hope and love to a child in need.  To find out more about Barnardos, please click here.

[Note: All names have been changed for privacy reasons]