A married gay couple from Rosario, New Mexico have won over our hearts for their story of compassion and familiar love.
After 42-year-old Damian Pighin and 39-year-old Ariel Vijarra got married in the North-Eastern Argentinian peninsula of Santa Fe, the two decided they wanted to start a family in 2011. Unfortunately, it took them three years to see that dream become a reality. And, it came a little more complicated than they originally planned.
After three years on the hunt, the couple got a call about a newborn baby in 2014. They learned four things from that call: that the baby girl was born with HIV, that she was only 28-days-old at the time, that 10 families had already rejected her, and that they had to have her.
“As soon as I saw her, I felt that she was part of my life. The connection was immediate. We held her in our arms, gave her the bottle and she looked at us with her eyes wide open without crying,” Ariel told local media, according to Unilad.
Thankfully, parenting little baby Olivia wasn’t as hard as the couple initially expected. Olivia immediately responded well to her HIV treatment and gaining weight easily. In addition, the loving fathers soon found out that the HIV virus was no longer detectable.
The happy family later added a fourth member to the group with baby Victoria (who’s the same age as Olivia).
The story of Damian, Ariel, and Olivia isn’t a rare one for the fathers though, as they see similar stories in their everyday work life. The two work for a non-government organization called Acunar Familias (or Cradle Families). The organization helps couples like Damian and Ariel adopt children in the foster care/adoption system who are often ignored, neglected, rejected.
It seems Damian and Ariel are committed to bettering the lives of children most often ignored. They do so at work and at home, and that truly makes them heroes in our book.
Sources: EN Newsner, Aazios, Unilad
