THERE

In Mercurio’s memoir, a gay couple’s lives change forever after one of them helps to rescue an abandoned child.

On August 28, 2000, New York City-based social worker Daniel Stewart found a baby boy, alone in a subway station. Instead of ignoring and walking past the child, as others were doing, he called 911 to get help. Mercurio, who worked at an advertising agency, was Stewart’s boyfriend at the time, and this incredible first-person account documents the mind-blowing surprises, coincidences, and moments of sheer luck that led to the men to adopting the baby and giving him a loving home. It’s a must-read for anyone who’s been told that a home is incomplete without a mother and a father—and for anyone who holds such a view: “The trappings of a ‘women do this, men do that’ mindset didn’t apply to us,” Mercurio writes at one point. There’s much to learn from the author’s candid account of his initial doubts about becoming a parent, and the open communication between him and his partner. It’s also moving to read about how professionals at the family court and the adoption agency always prioritized the baby’s best interests, and how friends and family members chipped in to help the couple. The book does a splendid job of tying the personal to the political by weaving legal developments related to marriage equality and adoption into the narrative. The couple are white and their adopted child is a person of color, and Mercurio is open about the various challenges that their son faced because of his peers’ curiosity about their unconventional family. The author’s background as a theater producer, director, and playwright also helps him to craft tense moments that will keep the reader hooked: “The idea of my northeast, liberal, Catholic, and gay rights-advocating parents hosting his Bible-belt, conservative, Southern Baptist parents made me anticipate a potentially long and uncomfortable weekend.” However, there are plenty of funny moments, as well, that effectively relieve the intensity.

An engaging celebration of queer joy and diverse families.