Gay Dads: A Celebration of Fatherhood [Paperback]

Strah profiled two dozen examples of gay men being father, many of which involves couples, with notable exceptions, like the gripping chapter "Safely Home". Strah (along with Susanna Margolis)detailed the problems these men faced in trying to be fathers. Each is a epic quest in itself, filled with Herculean obstacles.

The first obstacle is biologically and patently obvious; men can't get pregnant, and in real life, not all Wills have their Graces. This leads to many of the men in the book to adopt children, often outside of their own race. The biological barrier pales when compared to the second obstacle: being gay; which opens a Pandora's Box filled with cans of worms.

If "normal" straight couples are having a hard time adopting children, imagine what it is for a gay male couple. The book reveals that the process of adoption IS a bed of roses, complete with the thorns.

Even in the 20th century, attitudes toward men, particularly gay men, raising babies are enough to give adoption agencies and social workers pause, and not all women are willing to have their babies adopted by gay men, much less the babies' biological fathers.

The third obstacle, which would be interesting to see 15 years down the road, is how will the children react when they are old enough to realize their parents are not "normal"? This is a situation not helped when some of the kids are biracial and/or of a different ethnic background from their fathers. How will the world react to them and what bigotry and prejudices they will face along the way?

All the men Strah profiled related their own personal experiences in going through all these barriers. Strah saved the last chapter for himself and his partner. Upon reading them, a common theme ran through the book. If given enough courage, perseverance, persistence and conviction, anything is possible.

I recommend everyone, straight, gay, black, white, whatever, to read this book. It might be about Gay Dads but its themes of love, tolerance and understanding is universal and applies to everybody.

Those who are more close-minded will probably think this is a work of propaganda to promote the "gay agenda" by detailing only the good and ignoring the bad. Well, surprise!....Not all the profiles have hunky dory happy endings.

Overall it is an enlightening book, many of the people in it has taken steps in their lives which I can only dream about. The only gripe I have is that in trying to be as inclusive as possible of all the situations and scenarios, the chapters were rather short. Some stories are really full-blown biographies simply waiting to be explored into deeper details. Hey, who can't say the men who were profiled wouldn't go on to write their own books?

Ultimately, Gay Dads proves that unconditional love transcends race, gender, religion, and yes, even sexual orientation. Of course, the Sean Hannitys and Michael Savages of the world would disagree. But just see the black and white photos of the dads and their children. Look into the infinite joy and innocence in those eyes and faces. Isn't that what REALLY matters?