He’s going to have two daddies

Steven and Roger Ham and the 12 children they are raising in Arizona are officially a family.

The Hams, who are not married, met in 1993 in Reno and fell in love on their first date. Eight years later they decided to adopt what was supposed to be their only child, Michael.

But Michael continually worried about his four younger siblings, who still were in foster care, so the men rounded up Elizabeth, Andrew and the twins, Jackson and Madison.

“It was heart-wrenching to see this little 5-year-old with these big adult concerns,” Steven told The Arizona Republic last year.

“It broke our hearts,” Roger added.

The dads are considered full parents in two adoptions from Washington state. The other ten children were adopted in Arizona and legally belong only to Steven, because the state does not allow gay couples to jointly adopt a child or a gay spouse to adopt a partner's child.

With only one legal parent, the children are not entitled to health and Social Security benefits, inheritance rights or child support from the other parent.

The cost to re-adopt the children in a state such as Washington where they would be allowed to adopt together was cost prohibitive, about $1,500 for each child.

he hasn’t stopped talking about it. He’s already met new friends.