Alexa Campagna's post to Daddy and Pappa

This documentary is proof positive that a parent’s constant urge to protect, care for, and love his or her child is not a biological instinct and that a strong parent-child bond can develop between two genetically unrelated individuals.  Unfortunately, much of society is doing a terrible disservice to the many orphans and foster children, desperate for even the slightest ounce of love and affection, by making false assumptions about and accusations against homosexual couples that are willing to provide for these children.

            I was shocked by the complex screening process prospective gay parents must endure in order to adopt a child. It seems unfair, as one of the parents had said, that all heterosexual couples must do to have a child is have sex, while these men must be “grilled” before even being considered for the adoption process.  There are many straight couples that are unfit parents, who cannot and do not provide their biological children with even a fraction of the love and support that the gay adoptive parents provide to their biologically unrelated children.  The undeniable love that Kelly provides for his two adoptive sons, who come from an unstable and unsupportive home life, is obviously a healthier depiction of parenthood than that of the two boys’ drug-abusing biological parents. One’s ability to parent and love a child unconditionally clearly has no connection to one’s sexual orientation.

            I also found that even amongst gay couples, society still latches on to traditional gender-role stereotypes in order to determine which of the two partners will take on the role of the mother and of the father. It is almost as if people believe that gay couples cannot possibly raise a baby in an environment in which no mother figure is present. The Rugrats Movie idealizes the traditional two-parent, heterosexual household and made Chuckie feel as though his family was less adequate because he did not have a Mother. Oscar, because of messages similar to the one in the Rugrats Movie, is made to feel that his family is incomplete because he does not have a Mother, which is simply not the case. Alternative parenting, as depicted in this documentary, can be as effective as traditional parenting, if not more so, in providing a child with a loving, nurturing, and supportive environment in which to be raised.