Second Adoption for Galluccios

NewsPlanet Staff - Planet Out
Tuesday, May 18, 1999 / 08:02 PM

SUMMARY: New Jersey's favorite gay dads are celebrating their own blessed event - and their legal victory continues to be a blessed event for the state's children in need.

The two gay men who made unmarried couples in New Jersey the first in the nation to be able to adopt children together, on May 17 were granted a second adoption of their own. Jon and Michael Galluccio became the proud parents of Madison Elena, a 2-1/2-year-old they've fostered since she was two months old; she joins her big brother, now-three-year-old Adam, who's become a familiar figure appearing with the two dads at gay and lesbian civil rights rallies. Next month, the Galluccios expect to be adopting Madison's 16-year-old stepsister as well, at her request -- "driver's ed and potty training at the same time," joked Michael.

The Galluccios' success in adopting Adam and featuring in the American Civil Liberties Union class action suit that changed state policy on unmarried couple adoptions, did not mean that the road to adopting their second child was an easy one. To begin with, Madison, like Adam, first came to them in March 1997 classified as "medically fragile." She was born addicted to heroin, tested positive for HIV antibodies, and had been exposed to alcohol in the womb. Even though they were fighting first to adopt Adam and then appearing in the class action lawsuit, they once again met the strenuous challenges of her medical care, and after some 15 months with them Madison was declared healthy and HIV-free.

Although their bid to adopt Madison had the full support of New Jersey's Division of Youth and Family Services, her family stepped in. The Galluccios had already had to surrender one baby they'd fostered for five of his eight months when his grandparents came forward, shortly before Madison came into their care. Last year, several of Madison's aunts (her father's sisters) had indicated interest. Then in December, Madison's mother resurfaced, hoping if not to regain custody herself, at least to block Madison's adoption by a gay male couple. Ultimately, the court denied the mother custody and the aunts didn't follow through. As it happened, the judge who granted Madison's adoption this week, Superior Court Judge Sybil Moses, was the same judge who presided in both Adam's adoption and the class action lawsuit.

To celebrate the adoption, at Madison's request, the Galluccios went out for Italian food and a ride on a merry-go-round. Michael said, "We're a real All-American family now: a girl, a boy, a dog, and a minivan." Michael and Jon have been together for 17 years now, and a year ago celebrated their union in an Episcopal ceremony. Michael works for Sprint and Jon stays home with the children. Michael said that because of their legal struggles, "People have been able to connect with all of our humanity instead of just our sexuality. When they look at us as a whole, our experience shows that our sexuality begins to make little or no difference to the general population and full equality begins to make basic common sense." Meanwhile, New Jersey has been achieving increasing success in finding safe adoptive homes for children in need.