Synopses & Reviews
What makes a family?
Love makes a family.
This is the story of two gay men who become foster parents to Adam, a premature baby, born with the AIDS virus and addicted to crack, heroin, marijuana, and alcohol. While nursing Adam through the many medical emergencies of his first year and surviving the daily dramas that all new parents go through, they realize that this child, their son, could be taken back from them at any time by the state, and they decide to try to legally adopt him together. Refused by the state—even as it asks them to care for another at-risk infant—they decide to fight for their son in the courts, and win, setting a precedent for all unmarried couples in New Jersey. This book is dramatic proof that the American family is vibrantly alive and extending itself in remarkable new directions.
Review
"...The American family is not only alive and well, it is strongly committed to the core values which have marked us from the beginning: commitment, fidelity, honesty, equality, care, struggle, hope, love, risk and dreams...Read this book. It's not exactly the Brady Bunch, but everyone who reads it will come away reassured of the same ancient truth: A family is made of love." (Advocate--the newspaper for the Episcopal Diocese of Newark)
Review
“
An American Family—loving, strong, facing all challenges together. Jon and Michael are a model for all American families.” —Betty DeGeneres, author of
Love, Ellen“This moving, often funny, and sometimes quite poignant memoir explores the emotional, psychological, and legal battles that gay couples (and unmarried heterosexual couples) often face when dealing with issues of foster care, adoption, and social intolerance.” —Publishers Weekly
“As a gay rights activist, I know just how important it is that our stories are told. And what a story this is—two loving men and their very, very lucky kids. As a parent of three, I know just how hard gay men and lesbians work to create our families and to ensure the safety and well being of our children. Jon and Michaels story represents so many of us who carefully, thoughtfully, and lovingly raise children.”—Joan M. Garry, Executive Director of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
“They didnt start out to change the world, they were just trying to change the life of one little boy. Jon and Michael thought they were making a family, as it turns out they were making history. I have seen these two, Daddy and Father, as hands-on parents offering love, discipline, and hope to their expanding family. Whatever your views on gay rights this is a book that will cause you to question or redefine your notion of family.” —Leeza Gibbons, host and executive producer of Extra
“This book is a must-have for anyone contemplating parenthood or discovering a diverse family based on love.” —Kelly Taylor, editor in chief, Alternative Family Magazine
About the Author
Jon and Michael Galluccio live in Paterson, New Jersey, with their three children Rosa, Adam, and Madison, and granddaughter Maryanna. Their story has been widely followed in the press, with reports in
Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, the
Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, as well as on
The Rosie ODonnell Show, Good Morning America, and
Larry King Live.David Groff is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in the Men On Men 2 and Men on Men 2000 fiction anthologies, as well as OUT magazine, New York magazine, POZ, and other periodicals. He lives in New York City.