After complications conceiving their firstborn, Elaine Hirsch and her husband Gary Getz knew they wanted to have another child. They just weren't sure how to go about it the second time around. And then after years of discussions about adoption, they finally made the leap. Hirsch says the couple was visiting Ocean City for a vacation when they finally committed to the adoption process. "That's it, we really need to have another child," she recalls saying. Hirsch says it helped that her best friend is adopted and encouraged the couple. But Hirsch admits she didn't take the decision lightly, …

Christie and Ken Zukor are familiar with the disappointment and heartache of not being able to conceive a child. Like so many other Americans, they tried unsuccessfully before turning to doctors for help. "I felt like some science project after two inseminations," Christie said. She quickly abandoned the idea of in vitro fertilization. She says she spoke to her husband about the possibility of adopting children instead, and he was completely supportive. "I knew I'd rather be a parent than be pregnant," Christie says from a bench at Tydings Park in Havre de Grace, the community where she and …

For Havre de Grace residents Tom Barnes and his life partner Glenn Gorleski, being the fathers of two 16-year-old boys has been an unexpected adventure. Unlike other gay couples with children, one of the teenage boys is actually Barnes' biological child, and the other boy is his biological cousin. Barnes was a single dad to his biological son, Tucker, when he met and began dating Gorleski in 1999. Their first date was a meeting at Denny's, and Barnes recalls being excited to get acquainted with the man he had met once before at a party. Barnes, who at one point in his life lived a …

Havre de Grace residents Chad and Rachel Tate admit they're unlike many parents their age. They're quick to acknowledge that their friends are in the final throes of child rearing: budgeting for college tuitions and preparing for empty-nest syndrome. A few are even becoming grandparents. But the Tates are the exception to the norm. "They must think we're crazy," Rachel Tate says chuckling. She's referring to the fact that she and her husband are once again changing diapers. Already the parents of three teenage daughters, and one "tween" daughter with Down syndrome, the Tates began their …

For Amanda Wasielewski, becoming a foster mother—and eventually an adoptive mother—was a decision she didn't have to dwell on for very long. There were no sleepless nights or contemplative months as she considered whether or not it was the right choice for her and her family. "It's almost about a need to give back for me," she explained. Amanda and her husband, Gary, live in Havre de Grace with their four children: Sarah, 16 (who the family fostered for four years before legally adopting last year), and biological children Anna, 15, Riley, 9 and Emily-Jane, 5. They also currently have a fifth…