At least two of the entries to Blogging for LGBT Families Day were from lesbian moms whose children have serious illnesses. Jaime and Laura of Team Shimmy have a son with cardiomyopathy (whom I’ve mentioned before); Brooke and Liz of Lenox Slays the Leukemiasaurus have a daughter with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). I want to offer a special thanks to them for sharing their stories, not just on Blogging for LGBT Families Day, but on all the other days when they write about the good and the bad, the ordinary and the extraordinary, of their lives. They offer a gift to other families facing similar situations.
Because Brooke asked directly, “Hello? Any other lesbian moms going through this now? What is your experience like?” I also wanted to write this post as an attempt to facilitate such connections.
Brooke writes:
Does the fact that we are gay families going through this really give us anything more to bond over or share? Self-stratification among parents of cancer kids seems to trend understandably by locale, or often more specifically by type of cancer, primary oncologist or clinic, age of the child during treatment, phase of treatment, etc. So does the LGBT status of the parents even matter? Of course, ideally it shouldn’t be different, but the fears we face, and how we may choose to approach situations, is different, at least subtly.
Go read the rest of her post, if you haven’t, for her further explanation of some of the differences—and similarities—she has felt with other types of families she has encountered, as well as her family’s interactions with hospital staff. If you have a critically ill child yourself, I hope you’ll consider reaching out to each other. (Leave a comment here, too, if you like.) Our families are strong—astoundingly so, sometimes—but we are always stronger together.
