‘I finally have a real family’: Pair of gay dads from Pennsylvania adopt six siblings so they can grow up together after four years of neglect and abuse in the foster care system
- Steve Anderson-McLean and Rob Anderson-McLean adopted six siblings to make sure they weren’t split up when leaving the foster system
- The couple adopted Carlos, 14, Guadalupe, 13, Maria, 12, Selena, 10, Nasa, 9, and Max, 7, on May 23, 2019, which Steve recalled in a recent interview with GMA
- ‘I finally have a real family,’ said one of the brothers. ‘I’m adopted,’ another brother, Max said after the ceremony. ‘You can’t get unadopted right?’
- They have been together for 18 years, after sharing a commitment ceremony in 2006 and getting legally married in Maryland in 2013
- The couple said the siblings had endured a difficult childhood before being entered into the foster system back in 2017
- ‘It was a bad background, a sad story — there was neglect and abuse,’ Steve said
- The family is now a party of ten after the adoptions – the couple had already raised two sons together: Parker, 25 and Noah, 21
A gay couple from Pennsylvania adopted six siblings so they could grow up together, after neglect and abuse at the hands of their biological parents and over four years in the foster care system.
Steve Anderson-McLean and Rob Anderson-McLean, of Michigan, adopted all six children to make sure they weren’t split up after leaving the foster system – something that often happens with large sets of siblings.
The couple adopted Carlos, 14, Guadalupe, 13, Maria, 12, Selena, 10, Nasa, 9, and Max, 7, on May 23, 2019, which Steve recalled in an emotional interview with Good Morning America this week.
‘I finally have a real family,’ said one of the brothers following the adoption.
‘I’m adopted,’ another brother, Max declared after the ceremony. ‘You can’t get unadopted right?’
Scroll down for video
Steve Anderson-McLean and husband Rob Anderson-McLean with their six children after an adoption ceremony held May 23, 2019
The Michigan family, pictured above at a 2019 adoption ceremony, is a party of 10 after opening their hearts to six siblings in need of a home. The pair of fathers already raised two sons together: Parker, 25 and Noah, 21
Steve Anderson-McLean and husband Rob Anderson-McLean with their six adopted children: Carlos, 14, Guadalupe, 13, Maria, 12, Selena, 10, Nasa, 9, and Max, 7
https://youtube.com/watch?v=EWxWTSbc680%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1
Steve and Rob Anderson-McLean have been together for 18 years, after sharing a commitment ceremony in 2006 and getting legally married in Maryland in 2013.
The couple had already raised two sons together, Parker, 25 and Noah, 21, from a previous marriage before going forward with the adoptions.
‘The judge asked, “Do you understand at this point forward they are your children? They are just as much as your biological children,”‘ Anderson-McLean told GMA.
‘Obviously, we knew that, but when I looked up and saw all those eyes, it was very emotional.’ he added.
‘We never imagined we’d be lucky enough or blessed enough to have six.’
The couple said the siblings had endured a difficult childhood before being entered into the foster system back in 2017.
The couple adopted Carlos, 14, Guadalupe, 13, Maria, 12, Selena, 10, Nasa, 9, and Max, 7, pictured, on May 23, 2019
Steve, left, and Rob Anderson-McLean, right, have been together for 18 years, after sharing a commitment ceremony in 2006 and getting legally married in Maryland in 2013
‘It was a bad background, a sad story — there was neglect and abuse,’ Steve added.
After matching with the children in June of 2018, the six siblings moved in with Steve and Rob a month later.
‘After the first week they were asking if they could stay forever,’ Steve recalled in an interview with Today.
Steve also spoke of the emotional moment when Max asked the couple if they could unadopt him after the ceremony.
‘I had to reassure him that he will always be our son,’ Steven said.
‘It feels as if our emotional bonds were years in the making,’ Rob added. ‘There are no rules as to what can constitute a family and the love that we share.’
Source: Read Full Article
