Jan 20 2000 12:00AM By PAMELA LANGAN & PHOTO BY DAVID F. ADORNATO Herald& News
WAYNE -It was like a comedy act similar to Archie Bunker and his wife, Edith, from "All in the Family," or a scene from "The Honeymooners."

But the 18-year couple speaking at William Paterson University on Wednesday afternoon weren't just talking about their family, but rather about changing the definition of "family" in the new millennium.

Jon and Michael Galluccio stood before college students and administrators, sharing the good times and hard times of their struggle as a gay couple trying to adopt a child together.

In 1995, the Galluccios contacted the Division of Youth and Family Services and asked about joint adoption as a gay couple. The two were approved as an adoptive family.

As they looked through the list of infant characteristics, they came across some that said "HIV-positive," or "drug-addicted." They signed up as willing to take such children.

"At this point, we had a lot of faith in God," Jon said. "We really believed firmly that God wouldn't give us anything we couldn't handle."

On Dec. 23, 1995, Jon received a phone call from their caseworker with an available baby, a child addicted to crack, heroin and other drugs, along with signs of hepatitis C, tuberculosis, and other diseases. The boy was in intensive care and almost died twice.

While Jon wrote this down, Michael stood over his shoulder reading the description of the baby.

"I knew that we were talking about my son," Michael said.

They held the boy, Adam, in foster care for a while before they decided to adopt him.

They contacted DYFS a second time and were told they couldn't jointly adopt him because they were not recognized by the courts as legally married.

"It was the worst day of my life," Jon said, "because they were telling me I couldn't adopt my son."

After a few attorneys, and four months of writing letters and fighting the system, Jon and Michael Galluccio legally adopted Adam on Oct. 22, 1997.

On Wednesday, Michael reached out to the WPU students, hoping to teach them about how to educate their children about kids like Adam.

"You guys will be his classmates' parents," Michael said. "You are going to be leading our children; you are tomorrow's leaders."

Adam is now 4 years old and is in school. He shows no signs of the HIV virus, but he is on medication for hyperactivity.

The Galluccios, Jon known as "Daddy" and Michael called "Father", adopted their three-year-old daughter, Madison, on May 17, 1999, and may adopt Madison's 17-year-old biological sister, Rosa, this year.

As part of the afternoon lecture, Jon showed a 10-minute video full of news clips about their adoption battles, and a video of the family.

"Love is what makes a family," Jon said on the video.

İHerald & News 2000