Hi and thanks for being here and taking the time to read this! If you are familiar with our family you may know this, if not here is a little bit about our story!
Erin and I met 15 years ago when she came to visit friends in Louisiana, where I lived. We knew we were meant for each other and I quickly moved to Ohio to be with her. Several years later, before we even had the right to marry, we decided we wanted children and a family together. We went to fertility specialists, selected a donor, and went through the process of artificial insemination to achieve the dream of building our family! In 2013, we welcomed our beautiful son, Hooper, to this world! Anyone who knows Hooper, loves him. He is an old soul. He is so smart, funny and loving. In 2014, the court case of Obergefell v. Hodges went before the Supreme Court and it was decided that banning gay marriage was unconstitutional and it became legal nationwide! We were thrilled and got married in 2015! Several years later we decided to have another child to complete our family. In 2018, sweet Carter Faye came in to our lives like a wrecking ball. That girl is so loving, sassy, and full of fire. Our beautiful family was complete. If you know us, you know our children are our whole world, especially for Erin! She took parenting by the horns. From coaching baseball, to painting nails and doing hair, Erin does it all. She lives and breathes for her babies and every decision she makes is to ensure that our children and family are taken care of have the best lives that can possibly have! To say she is an amazing mom is an understatement!
However, We are at point in country where the rights of LGBT people, LGBT parents, and their beautiful families, like ours, are at risk of losing thier rights.
Someone of you may not know that over the past year there has been talk of the supreme court overturning the court case ruling (Obergefell v. Hodges) that found state bans on same sex marriage unconstitutional. With the recent political climate this has become and even more real possibility.
If the court ruling is overturned that would then leave the decision up to the states to determine if same-sex marriage is legal in that state. There are currently still 25 states that ban same sex marriage. Currently those bans are unenforceable because of the federal ruling. But if that ruling is overturned they would be enforceable. Ohio is one of those states, resulting in our marriage would no longer being legal.
There are 1,134 legal rights and privileges that are denied to LGBT people when they are denied the right to marry. Perhaps the scariest outcome of our marriage no longer being legal is that Erin would no longer have rights to our beautiful children. Her children. The children we planned for and had together as a loving couple.
The only way to ensure she has undeniable rights is by doing a step-parent adoption while we are still legally married. If it is overturned before we complete a step-parent adoption, then there is no way to ensure she has rights in Ohio. So as you can tell, there is a sense of urgency to complete the process.
Adoption, like many other legal processes, is expensive. Which brings me to why we’re here. I am here to ask for help. Asking for help is hard and requires us to put our pride to the side. I am are asking for help to cover the cost of the attorney and legal fees. Any contribution you could make would do so much more than help with the cost. It would help with protecting our family. It helps with ensuring that Erin has undeniable and incontestable right to her children. Your help in turn helps us protect our children. Your help would bring a sense of peace to us in a time that feels very scary.
I am aware that money is tight for a lot of people and families right now, but no amount is too small. If you can’t contribute financially, then you could help by sharing!
Also if you aren’t comfortable with using gofundme, feel free to utilize Venmo (@Kelcie-Paxson) or CashApp ($KelciePaxson)
Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Kelcie