'A Home For The Holidays' Features Gay Dad's Adoption Story
- By
- On Top Magazine Staff
- | December 22, 2014
CBS' long-running holiday special A Home for the Holidays for the first time in its history featured a gay dad's adoption story.
The 16th annual special, broadcast Friday, featured uplifting stories about families who have adopted children from foster care.
One segment featured Rich Valenza, who became a single father when he adopted 5-year-old Zack and his 4-year-old sister, Emmary.
“I heard that they had been living homeless and had been malnourished. When I went for my first meeting, I remember that the foster mother called for the kids and they came out so cautiously and they were so frail,” an emotional Valenza said.
“And we sat and we played. … And, I don't know, they just stole my heart at that time,” he said.
Later, Valenza met his partner, Jared Glee, and the four became a family.
“He was really fun to hang out with and I love talking to him,” Emmary said of Glee. (The video is embedded on this page. Visit our video library for more videos.)