Stonewall Pride is held over Father’s Day weekend to remember the Stonewall Riots of 1969, which were the start of the LGBTQ+ human rights movement.
In honor of both events, the Goodwin Mamrosh family will be in North Miami to talk about becoming dads and how it has changed their kids’ lives.
The boy said, “They call me Daddy Melton and they call him Poppa Timmy.”
The house is full of laughter and happy chaos on a Tuesday afternoon. Alex, who is 17 years old, says that life here is “loud and loving.”
It could be because of the six kids that live here: Kendall, Braiden, Kendra, Gabriel, Alex, and Mackenzie. Their dads are Melton and Thomas.
Thomas Mamrosh said, “At first, we thought we wanted to have kids, but we never felt the need to have our own because there were so many other kids who needed a special place to stay.”
Melton said that their path to becoming dads began about 20 years ago.
“There weren’t many or any gay adoptions because this was before it was legal in Florida for gay couples to adopt children. We were just starting out with it.” “Kendra is lucky for me because she is my biological family,” he said.
Because of this, Melton became Kendra’s formal guardian when she was about 18 months old.
It wasn’t always easy to adopt her, but things went more smoothly after 2015, when gay marriage and adoption by gay parents became allowed.
As I see it, the only hard part was the start, when we were the first to adopt. And I think it was just people in the neighborhood seeing us and getting to know us. “Other than what happens in court, there haven’t been many problems,” Melton said.
“It doesn’t really make things different for us as a same-sex couple, as it would for anyone else,” Thomas said.
Kendra is almost 21 years old now. When Melton and Thomas adopted her in 2016, she became their first child.
“Having someone watch out for you, help you, and have your back is what I think of as a father.” “That seems very important to me,” she said.
Kendra also made Melton and Thomas think about having more children.
“As she got closer to middle school age, she wanted a sibling, so we decided to become foster parents.”
Several dozen kids have stayed with the Goodwin Mamrosh family for a short time over the years. And many of them are still alive and well in the family.
Melton said, “A lot of them still come here and see us.”
People who have been able to adopt six children call themselves “lucky.” They are now fathering a seventh child and hope to have the same chance to adopt another child.
They’ve always known they wanted to be a dad.
“Honestly I think it is the most important role that a human can have,” Melton said.
Because it’s so important, I hope we can show other dads, not just gay dads, how to stay involved with their kids’ lives. Kids need their parents. They need a father, a mother, or some combination of the two. But they need their parents.”
Thomas also sees it as an important part of his life.
“I can talk because I’m an adopted dad. I have decided to love these kids, and I’m here to honor their story and be their biggest fan.
And their children agree with them.
Braiden said, “We got lucky, it was a good catch.”
“When we first got here, we had male foster parents for the first time.” I told the social worker over and over that I want a dad. I now have two. Before I came here, I didn’t really know what a father did, but I think they are great examples of it.
Gabriel, his half-brother, said, “Right now they are kind of everything to me. I don’t know where I would be without them.”
Alex thought that a father was more than just someone who cared for them; they were someone who would be there for them and support them for most of their lives. It feels like your best friend but is really your parent.
