I'm Not a Female
First off, no I am not a female. I have never been a female nor do I ever have the desire to be one. I love women and respect them and many of my best friends are female. However, I am not a female. Repeat I am male and I love men. Totally love being a gay male.
Benjamin (left) and his husband Nick with their two sons
I'm a Parent
Second, both my husband and I could never take the place of either of our children's birth mother or father for that matter. How could we? They conceived them and made the ultimate selfless sacrifice to give me the opportunity to parent their child. Not be a mother, but a parent. Obviously I want female role models and influences in my kids' lives. They have experiences and knowledge that I certainly don't. Do women and men have to have set roles or responsibilities in parenting? Why? Do we still live in a society where men cannot cook and clean and women can work and have no interest in house work or shopping? I certainly hope we do and that these people aren't seen as abnormal or “modern-day" families. Furthermore, if all males and females and everyone else all were treated equally and didn't come with societal baggage or discrimination, would it be as necessary to categorize their roles or choices in parenting? I don't know. That dream is sadly way far off
In a Way, We're All Moms
Third, we certainly have societal views of what a woman's role in parenting is. A lot of this ties in with my response to the second question. If being compassionate, nurturing, loving and affectionate with my kids makes me a mom then I hope all parents are moms. Or if that means cooking, cleaning, driving my kids to and from practices or endless doctor's appointments then again I hope all parents are moms.
Benjamin (left) and Nick with their oldest son in the back
No More Labels
I know by this point this may seem like a lot of ranting and maybe it is. However, that is because I do feel that society likes to label or categorize us. In order for the majority of society to make sense of same-sex parenting one person has to fill a certain role or expectation in people's minds. Society does the same thing to single parents or lesbian parents or any set of parenting situations. Not all of society is a heterosexual married couple living in suburbia with a cat and dog and 2.5 kids. Most of society isn't. Let's stop placing labels on people and just let them be what they want to be. I'm just trying to parent the best that I can. Let's leave what you call me or my role alone.
Read Benjamin's post "Are Adoptive Parents Saviors?"
