Jay’s Story

"Our family unit comprises of Mama, Daddy and Little J. As Queer Parents with Disabilities, we have faced various challenges in our short time as a young family but we want our tiny human to see the world with openness, kindness and hope that inclusion is possible. Having said that our photo came during a difficult period; in a house that was inaccessible, in a place that wasn’t LGBT+ friendly with antisocial neighbours and where we struggled to focus on ourselves and our needs as a family. Our son was sleep deprived, lacking milestones and I know I felt like I did nothing ‘right’. Hindsight is a wonderful thing...

What I now see in those photos is tiredness, I see the ache for something better and perseverance. But mostly it makes me so, so thankful that we faced those challenges and as a strong queer family. We got through that and I will forever appreciate that we made it. Things got better, things changed and we came out of it having learned that I am stronger than I give myself credit for, that my wife is a wonderful mother and needs reminding sometimes that she is the glue that holds our family together.

We are unapologetically authentic. We are who we are. I’m proud to be a Queer, Trans, Disabled person who has the utter privilege of a beautiful, kind, helpful tiny human who calls me ‘Daddy’.

Our family is resilient, compassionate, incredibly queer and more than able to survive adversity.

To the wider community who are thinking of starting their own family: You can do this! Your family can be wonderful too however you get there, whatever conception, surrogacy, adoption or fostering route you take. You have the upper hand. You will have authenticity, lived experience of diversity and overcoming challenges is your bread and butter.

You are strong.

Be proud."