Thomas Anderson-the first single gay man of Scotland to adopt a child!
Thomas Anderson, the single gay man from Scotland made history recently. He was the first single gay person there to adopt a child. Know the whole story of how he materialized his dream.
Thomas Anderson and the start of his adoption journey
Thomas Anderson always wanted to father a child but was unsure of how it would happen since he was gay. He feared that his dream would never be realized.
And it all started 4 years back when Thomas, 33 noticed an online ad. The St Andrew’s Children’s Society had put up the ad on its Facebook.
The Society based in Edinburgh and Aberdeen is an adoption and foster care agency founded in 1922. He decided there itself that he would give a child a new life. Thomas stated:
“I was desperate to be a dad and there were so many kids out there who needed parents. It was that simple.”
Thomas Anderson’s adoption process
After he was sure, Thomas spoke to his family and got support there as well. He then approached the Society and commenced the adoption process. He said:
“It is a long process and so many checks, but finally I went to an Exchange Day, which is almost like a careers day, where there are various local authorities there advocating for the children in their care and you are there to speak to them and to try and find a match.”
After seeing the pictures of kids, his heart fell for a 4-year-old boy. Thomas revealed:
“I saw him and I just thought ‘That’s him, that’s my boy’. I told them I was interested and it went from there.”
But he was not allowed to directly meet the boy first. Firstly, he met the child’s foster parents. And later on, he also met and spoke to the social workers involved in the care of the child. Furthermore, he met every single person who was in the child’s life. This helped him to know about the child, his nature, his behavior, and his likes and dislikes.
Thomas Anderson finds his ‘son’
Thomas was allowed to meet the boy only after he was ready enough to do so. He then had several meetings with the boy in the presence of the society staff or their premises. Only after things seemed comfortable between the two and the society was convinced of it, Thomas was allowed to take the boy home.
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Thomas said:
“I went to the foster home and before I could knock, the door opened and he jumped up and called me daddy and that was it.”
“It was so unreal and bizarre because it felt amazing, but it also felt totally normal, like that’s how it should have always been.”
“Shortly after he came home we were laying on his bed watching TV and it felt so perfectly normal, like we were always meant to be laying watching PJ Masks together.”
Thomas summarizes:
“It’s not even that I’m a gay man, it’s that I’m a single man. Before I got into this I thought only couples would be considered and I think that’s sad. There are so many children who need a safe and loving home, but there are just as many people out there who are desperate to be parents.
“If my story can get those people to take the first steps into adoption then everything has been worth it.”
Source: Daily Record UK
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Posted on: Thursday, July 2 2020
