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Lesbian Couple First to Adopt in Newfoundland

Lesbian Couple First to Adopt in Newfoundland

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After 15 years together, Lisa Reid and Joy Gosse were able to legally adopt a boy and a girl.

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Lisa Reid and Joy Gosse, a lesbian couple that has been together nearly two decades, became one of the first same-sex couples in Newfoundland and Labrador allowed to legally adopt a child. In their case, two: on Thursday the two women adopted a son and a daughter -- children they have been fostering since last year, according to CBC News.

CBC reports that while the couple's social worker "said they were the first same-sex couple to adopt in the province, there is at least one other. A Labrador couple told CBC News that they adopted a child five years ago. Nonetheless, Reid and Gosse are proud to be at a social vanguard."

"I think we broke some new ground in some areas," Gosse told CBC. The women talked adoption "from the very first moment we met," said Reid. They filed adoption papers in 2008, but were worried because the adoption papers weren't made for same-sex couples and even health care workers didn't know how to deal wtih two mothers.

"They asked, 'So who's the mom? Who's the mother?' We said, 'Well, Lisa's mommy and I'm mama,'" Gosse told CBC. "And she shook her head and said, 'But which one is the mother?' We're both the mothers, we're lesbians."

Watch the full report here:

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Diane Anderson-Minshall

Diane Anderson-Minshall is the CEO of Pride Media, and editorial director of The Advocate, Out, and Plus magazine. She's the winner of numerous awards from GLAAD, the NLGJA, WPA, and was named to Folio's Top Women in Media list. She and her co-pilot of 30 years, transgender journalist Jacob Anderson-Minshall penned several books including Queerly Beloved: A Love Across Genders.
Diane Anderson-Minshall is the CEO of Pride Media, and editorial director of The Advocate, Out, and Plus magazine. She's the winner of numerous awards from GLAAD, the NLGJA, WPA, and was named to Folio's Top Women in Media list. She and her co-pilot of 30 years, transgender journalist Jacob Anderson-Minshall penned several books including Queerly Beloved: A Love Across Genders.