A Birth Father’s Perspective on Fatherhood

What Does it Mean to Be a Good Father? "Being a good father is being devoted, mentally and physically and emotionally...being devoted to your actual kid and not what's going on in the outside world." To Josh, being a good father doesn't mean showing up and just taking his kid to a game if he's [...]

Letter to an Adoptive Father

My journey as a father began ten years ago. I was living with my girlfriend, Jackie, in Pittsburgh after moving from Upstate New York. We were a young couple going to college when we were shocked to learn Jackie was pregnant. We felt a range of emotions, including excitement and nervousness. But we ultimately knew [...]

Becoming ‘Daddy and Papa’ through adoption at AFTH

When we first began our adoption journey ten years ago, we had no idea as a gay couple what to expect. This was in the days before gay marriage was legal, and gay adoption seemed pretty "out there" to us, especially open adoption. Would prospective birth moms even consider us? Would we wait years? Fortunately, [...]