Keegan Shoutz and Paul Schroepfer met at college in 2010, married in 2016, and in 2017, the two men started to move forward with the idea of adoption to increase the size of their family.
Keegan, 31, works in public relations for Best Buy’s corporate communications team, and Paul, 35, is a lawyer. Their journey to adoption took over two and a half years, and they describe it as “a LOT of waiting.” The couple considered surrogacy but decided adoption was the right path for their family. The first part of their journey was focused on a pile of paperwork, in-person classes, and then social outreach. – gayswithkids.com
If anyone has been through or known someone that has tried to adopt, you know it is a lengthy process with hurdles, red tape, things out of your control, waiting, rescheduling, excitement, discouragement, and so many more headaches and heartaches,, but of course, it’s all worth it in the end.
But who would know that a retail electronics giant would be part of this adoption equation? Keegan and Paul Schroepfer are believed to be the first gay couple to receive a grant through Best Buy‘s adoption assistance program.
No, you cannot buy a baby at Best Buy but employees can take part in the company’s new adoption assistance benefit. This provides employees with up to $14,000 in adoption expense reimbursement. What is the catch? The employee must have worked full time at Best Buy for a minumum of six months.
There’s a great deal more to the story, which can be heard and seen in the kare11.com video below, but to know same-sex couples can receive the same support as other couples looking to start or grow a family is great. It’s just sad that this is not the norm in 2020.
Congrats to the beautiful loving family and thank you Best Buy for offering this great gift to all of your employees.
Source: gayswithkids.com , kare11.com , Best Buy’s blog