[Original Mike]

I adopted my son from foster care when he was 13. I am a straight, single father. In starting the process, I was very interested to see the reactions of various agencies to my status.

Reactions ranged from barely-diguised venom (as a single man looking to adopt an older chld, I must be a pervert of some kind) to bemusement (oh, you couldn't possibly raise a child alone) to being treated like some kind of rare, exotic species (WOW, we've never had a single DAD before).

After a rough start with one agency who (upon finding out I was single) informed me that "We don't do homestudies for you people."), I was matched with a county worker who I hit it of with right away. She had never worked with a single dad before and found it very interesting. She even became kind iof "over=protective" of me and did a very good job of screening ptential matches.

Now, I've been in this long enough to see other single dads enter the arena, both as foster and adoptive parents. Frequently, I ma asked to speak to foster training classes and was even featured in our local paper a few years ago as part of "NAtional Adoption Month" coverage.

I do not plan on adopting again, but I do continue to foster. I find that several of the boys also find the idea of a single dad to be different. One even asked me "Well, if you're single, who does the cooking?" My current foster placment has always been raised by women, so having a male parent is a real novelty to him and he is progressing by leaps and bounds.

Anything else, just ask.