← Back to all stories

Oriah

Keene High School, New Hampshire

My parents weren’t allowed to get married because it was illegal. That didn’t stop them from starting a family though. When my twin sister and I were born, we lived in Baltimore. Since I had two moms, one of my moms wasn’t automatically put on my birth certificate and had to adopt us. To this day, she still isn’t on my birth certificate even though she is my mom. In Baltimore one of my mothers was a teacher and the other one stayed home and cared for us. We lived there until we were two and then we moved to Keene, New Hampshire. In New Hampshire we live in a nice neighborhood with a pool, conservation land with hiking trails, and many other children our age. We had lived here for a couple years, and then it became legal for my parents to marry. I was pretty young when they got married, but I do remember bits and pieces. I remember that my twin sister and I were the flower girls, and that I wore a poofy red dress with polka dots.

Most people think that growing up with two moms is wildly different then growing up with a mom and a dad. In some ways it is and in others it isn’t. I have two parents who love me and want what's best for me. People have never been mean to me because I have two moms. Although you will have that one person here and there that just doesn’t “get it” and seems super confused. I don’t understand why it's so hard to grasp the concept of having two moms, I have two loving parents. It's just that they are both women. What's so hard to understand about that?

Eventually, my grandparents came and moved to Keene to be close to us. They moved very close, about five houses down in the same neighborhood close, which was amazing. It was awesome to have Grandma’s house within walking distance of ours, no more two hour car rides and “Are we there yet?”. Now I could go down and get cookies and candy whenever I wanted. My parents push me to get good grades and put myself out there and try new things. If I didn’t tell people I had two moms, they would never know. I am a typical teen going through typical teen things, just trying to get through high school one day at a time.

© Oriah. All rights reserved. If you are interested in quoting this story, contact the national team and we can put you in touch with the author’s teacher.

    Tags:

  • Family
  • Discrimination
  • Justice and Law