This week’s installment of the Huffington Post Gay Voices RaiseAChild. US Let Love Define Family series highlights the intersecting journeys of a single gay man, who adopted from Cambodia in 2000, his athletically gifted son, and “Papi,” who became the boy’s second father.
Fifteen-year-old Jordan Windle’s diving career has taken his family from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Indianapolis, Indiana, to Durham, North Carolina. But Jordan’s first move was from Cambodia, where his father Jerry Windle adopted him when he was 18 months old. In 2000, Cambodia was among a number of nations that still allowed single men to adopt. Today, all international adoptions are closed to single men and women, mostly to filter out LGBT people, though single and openly gay people are welcome to adopt in most regions of the United States.
Now 48, Jerry, who served in the Navy during “don't ask, don't tell,” always knew he wanted to be a parent and that he would pursue it through adoption. While studying education and military science at Oregon State University, he learned about the tens of thousands of Cambodian children who were orphaned during and after the time of the Khmer Rouge and felt a heart connection to their plight. Five months after he made his initial call to pursue his dream, he flew to Cambodia to meet the child, whose Cambodian name Pisey translates to “little darling” in English. His son was waiting at the orphanage gates in the arms of his nanny, clutching a keychain photo of his father-to-be.
“I purposely wanted to adopt a toddler versus an infant,” explained Jerry. “As a single father working full-time, it would be difficult raising an infant but, more importantly, my heart’s desire was to provide a forever family to an older child, who would be less likely to be adopted.”
The first person to recognize Jordan’s diving talent was Tim O’Brien, the former head coach of the Fort Lauderdale Diving Team and son of Dr. Ron O’Brien who was Greg Louganis’ Olympic coach. At the time, Jordan was seven and the family lived in Fort Lauderdale. Today, Jordan is a three-time junior national champion, a silver and bronze medalist in U.S. National Championships, and an Olympic hopeful.
The Windle family expanded six years ago when Jerry met Andrés Rodriguez, now 31, while the two were playing softball. At their first dinner together, when Jerry broke the news that he had a son, it didn’t faze Andrés. In fact, being someone who valued family, Andrés was intrigued. The three dined together several times to get to know each other. One evening at dinner, Jordan, who was then nine, looked over at Andrés and asked, “Are you going to be in our family?” to which Andrés replied, “I think so.” Jordan then said, “Can I call you Papi?” and Andrés replied, “Sure.” Jerry and Andrés have been together ever since.
Full story here!
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