Two gay dads share moving story of coming out, falling in love and starting a new family
A gay couple have opened up about coming out and fatherhood.
Donovan Gutierrez and his fiancé Eric Alvarado were already fathers when they met – each having a child of their own from previous relationships.
Both men admit that they desperately wanted to have children whilst still young – so each made the difficult decision to get married to women and start a family, even though they knew they were gay.
Unsurprisingly, neither marriage lasted, and the pair both ended up getting divorced.
The men describe having to adapt to the world as openly gay men – including coming out to their parents and children. They also open up about their ex-wives and the custody battles that ensued.
“It becomes difficult, especially when it comes to communication,” Donovan says. “My parents still argue and they’ve been divorced for 30 years.”
However, after the pair met online, their solitary struggles ended as they turned to each other for support.
Eric soon moved to California to be with Donovan and the couple decided to get married – with the full support of Donovan’s 10-year-old son, Desi.
“Why don’t you make it official?” he asked the pair, after hitting it off with Eric’s 10-year-old daughter, PK.
“They have a good, strong place in our lives,” Eric says about the soon to be step-siblings. “I feel like they can be themselves.”
We’re really blessed that they got along so well.”
Donovan and Eric say this is just the beginning of their new family – saying they hope to adopt more children in the future.
“We wanted a traditional family per se,” shares Eric. “I’m really looking forward to it. The way I’m looking at it, we’re starting from step one.”
The couple shared their story with Gays With Kids – an organisation designed to help gay dads navigate fatherhood, that often showcases stories about same-sex couples to help shine a light on their family life.
The group recently shared an adorable video depicting the day in the life of two gay fathers.
The video – which saw the pair gain an online fandom – captures the average Sunday routine for an adorable New York based family; couple Corey and Rocco, and their young son Forge.
