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News & ArtsThursday, February 28, 2013
Gay Marriage / LGBTQITSLFA Fate Makes a Family
Posted by Dan Savage on Thu, Feb 28, 2013 at 11:31 AM
Grab a tissue before you head over to the New York Times to read the rest of this story:
Danny called me that day, frantic. “I found a baby!” he shouted. “I called 911, but I don’t think they believed me. No one’s coming. I don’t want to leave the baby alone. Get down here and flag down a police car or something.” By nature Danny is a remarkably calm person, so when I felt his heart pounding through the phone line, I knew I had to run.
When I got to the A/C/E/ subway exit on Eighth Avenue, Danny was still there, waiting for help to arrive. The baby, who had been left on the ground in a corner behind the turnstiles, was light-brown skinned and quiet, probably about a day old, wrapped in an oversize black sweatshirt....
Three months later, Danny appeared in family court to give an account of finding the baby. Suddenly, the judge asked, “Would you be interested in adopting this baby?” The question stunned everyone in the courtroom, everyone except for Danny, who answered, simply, “Yes.”
5
I neglected to get a tissue and now I'm wiping my eyes on my shirt sleeve. What a great story. Thanks, Dan.
7
This Danny fellow ruined a perfectly good Libertarian experiment. Couldn't he tell that infant was on the verge of true self-sufficient Randian perfection? Stop codling these babies with "shelter", "food", and your weak willed Leftist love and eventually we will have a perfect society.
12
Wow! It's like the start of a fairy tale. I hope this doesn't mean that a dragon will plague New York in sixteen years. And that this kid grows up safe and sound in a loving household. (Sorry, but Oscar Pistorius taught me to be skeptical of happy stories, darn murdering sonovah...)
15
Awesome that the KID suggested using the same judge.
And can someone please remind me exactly how having two dads (or two moms) is supposed to be harmful for a child?
And can someone please remind me exactly how having two dads (or two moms) is supposed to be harmful for a child?
17
Man, as if I didn't have enough things to watch out for, now every time I go into the subway I'm going to be worried about ending up with a kid.
19
Would be interesting to learn the name of the judge, who's as much a hero of the story as the parents (and Kevin). Talk about judicial activism !!
20
That was beautiful. I'm on my lunch break and have to go back to teaching in 6 minutes. Hopefully they wont be able to tell I was crying. :-\
22
All right Dan. Tell us the truth. How many tissues did you go through? Good thing you warned me in advance. Thanks for sharing. That was a wonderful story.
23
Gaw. I teared up a lil' too. That judge seems like a real mensch (womensch?). I wish there were more judges out there willing to use their power to cut through red tape like that.
25
Oh hell. The workman fixing my bathroom is going to get back from his lunch break in like 3 minutes, and I'm bawling like an idiot.
30
I'm crying for all the baby ACEs who got stuck in crap foster homes or worse. Same sex marriage will be the saving grace for tens of thousands of kids.
31
Amazing story. Go humanity!
I'm supposed to meet friends in a few minutes and now I've got to pull myself togeher.
I'm supposed to meet friends in a few minutes and now I've got to pull myself togeher.
35
What good fortune that this came up before one of the very few judges with good intuition and a benign character. And I'm glad that the boy seems to have turned out well.
37
Finders Keepers, right?
Amirite?!
Too bad Danny couldn't have found a baby.
Would have saved him some major coin......
Amirite?!
Too bad Danny couldn't have found a baby.
Would have saved him some major coin......
38
@37
Reading the story and comments wouldn't have been complete without seeing something from you. You're like my favorote cranky uncle. Hugs.
Reading the story and comments wouldn't have been complete without seeing something from you. You're like my favorote cranky uncle. Hugs.
41
Just as I suspected, this proves I have no feelings. An interesting story, but not an atom of humidity.
42
I must be the only nerd who hears "baby found in subway station" and whose brain immediately goes to "The Importance of Being Earnest." Black sweatshirt/black handbag....
In all seriousness, beautiful story.
In all seriousness, beautiful story.
43
Everyone loves a happy ending.
But isn't this a case of "judge pulls a decision out of her ass without knowing a goddamned thing about the people she was handing a baby over to and, thank god, it worked out but it sure as hell was luck rather than good planning?"
The judge "on a hunch" (so far as we're told) handed a baby over to just some guy who found him in the subway. That's it. Next to zero checks into the prospective parent(s). That it turned out well is a touching story. That it happened that way is insane and an indictment of the judge. The LW might have been another Joel Steinberg for all she knew, or cared.
But isn't this a case of "judge pulls a decision out of her ass without knowing a goddamned thing about the people she was handing a baby over to and, thank god, it worked out but it sure as hell was luck rather than good planning?"
The judge "on a hunch" (so far as we're told) handed a baby over to just some guy who found him in the subway. That's it. Next to zero checks into the prospective parent(s). That it turned out well is a touching story. That it happened that way is insane and an indictment of the judge. The LW might have been another Joel Steinberg for all she knew, or cared.
45
@43 I agree that the decision and process seem rushed, but from the text it seems that even though they were handed the child pretty much right away they were still under supervision for a long while before the actual adoption. If they had proved to be unfit parents the child would surely have been removed.
46
No tears from me (does that mean I'm an unfeeling, empty soul?), but knowing what the outcome was probably going to be, I kept thinking, "This is how families are made."
And Dad wrote a screenplay about it? This is one of those stories that, if someone had pulled it out of his or her imagination, a studio's response would have been, "Oh, come on. That is just too damn perfect to be realistic. People will roll their eyes at the sentimentality."
Fortunately for Kevin and his dads, real life doesn't have to be pre-screened for excessive sentimentality.
And Dad wrote a screenplay about it? This is one of those stories that, if someone had pulled it out of his or her imagination, a studio's response would have been, "Oh, come on. That is just too damn perfect to be realistic. People will roll their eyes at the sentimentality."
Fortunately for Kevin and his dads, real life doesn't have to be pre-screened for excessive sentimentality.
48
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