Respiratory Therapist Greg Travis experienced the COVID-19 pandemic at its front lines. That would be enough for most people to want to just go home and sleep until their next shift, but that’s not Greg’s style. Instead, he and his husband Brandon, who works for the state, both went back to school to complete their degrees. They also decided it was time to follow a dream that hatched in their early days of dating: becoming fathers. 

from left: Brandon, Jude and Greg Travis[/caption]

As a gay couple, they always knew that their path to parenthood would likely include adoption. 

“We were open to whatever kind of adoption that the birth mother wanted, but we were hoping for an open adoption just so that the child would always know his birth family from a young age, and also so that they’d be available to answer any questions about medical and family history,” Greg explained. 

Brandon also has an adopted uncle, so he saw the beauty of adoption firsthand growing up.

They went through an adoption agency called Adoption Network, chosen because of its strong support for birth mothers, and were matched with a woman in Texas who was in her third trimester of pregnancy. It was to be an open adoption, just as they’d hoped. Their son, Jude, was born a full 10 days after he was due. 

Since a week before the due date, they’d been waiting, car packed, to drive to Texas. That wait was fraught with worry because Jude’s birth mother hadn’t had much prenatal care due to pandemic worries and other concerns. Finally, the call came that she was in labor. It was another 24 hours before they learned that Jude had safely arrived. 

Now, the family has settled into the often chaotic life of raising a preschooler. They’re blessed with strong family support, and Jude regularly spends time with his cousins in the area. Support from family, friends and employers is really key to making adoption successful, they say. Thankfully, they’ve had that in spades.

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