A gay couple adopted the baby they found abandoned in a Manhattan subway station twelve years ago, in a heartwarming story about how sometimes the world isn't a terrible place.
According to Peter Mercurio, in a Times Opinionator column, his partner Danny found a one-day old baby at the A/C/E subway exit on Eight Avenue.
Three months after finding the baby, Danny appeared in family court to give his version of the story. At this point, a judge asked Danny if he'd like to adopt the baby.
The question stunned everyone in the courtroom, everyone except for Danny, who answered, simply, "Yes."
"But I know it's not that easy," he said.
"Well, it can be," assured the judge before barking off orders to commence with making him and, by extension, me, parents-to-be.
After some hesitation by Mercurio, the couple decided to keep the baby, naming him Kevin. Throughout the adoption process, Mercurio wondered about the judge who'd put this entire plan in action.
Did she know Danny was a social worker and therefore thought he would make a good parent? Would she have asked him to adopt if she knew Danny was gay and in a relationship?
When he asked the judge during their final hearing why she'd suggested adoption to Danny, she simply replied that she had a hunch.
If that seems like the perfect happy ending to you, you're wrong, there's even more. In 2011, New York State finally allowed gay couples to marry. Twelve years after he was found at the subway, Baby ACE asked his fathers why not have the very judge who'd hatched their family marry them.
They did.
The story, in its entirety can be read here. There's a Parents Magazine version of the same story here. And, if you can even handle it, there's a screenplay based off this wonderful story of perfect coincidences, written by Mercurio himself.
You're not the only one touched by this story. Here's what Twitter had to say:
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