Family
Who comes to mind when you think of the word, family? Some people know family to be those that are related by blood and DNA, while for others this could be anyone we love and trust such as a teacher, friend, coworker or foster parent. Chosen family can be relatives or not; either way, they choose you and you choose them. Given their circumstances, children in foster care understand the immense value of choosing who they call family and perhaps those youths apart of the LGBTQ+ community know this even more.
How It Started
Our fostering journey began at the end of 2022. As a queer couple living in the South, we were familiar with relatives that did not choose us. Shortly after our marriage which was the result of immense love for one another and the fear of losing the rights to marry each other because of who we are and where we live, we became interested in growing our family of two humans, five dogs and two cats. At the time, we were hearing daily news of the atrocious state of the foster care system where we live and horror stories of children sleeping on the floors of case workers’ offices for weeks at a time due to lack of foster homes. Teenagers, especially those that identified as LGBTQ+ were disproportionately living in non-home placements due to a lack of affirming homes and the same is true today.
The Need
There was no ignoring the need that was so obviously present in our community any longer. After some research, we attended an information session with a therapeutic foster care agency that specifically seeks LGBTQ+ and affirming homes for LGBTQ+ youth that are considered to have higher levels of need than those in state care. We reflected for a few weeks before deciding to sign up for foster parent training classes. We completed the classes, turned in massive amounts of documentation, prepared for and passed our home study, and were licensed to foster within 3 months!
We have chosen to serve and care for those LGBTQ+ teens. Love is a choice and we believe, love makes a family.
