Love is love: 2 dads share their experience raising 2 daughters

ORLANDO, Fla. — A College Park family has their hearts full of love for their two daughters.

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At 3 1/2 years old, Teagan and her little sister Tenley, at almost two, keep their two fathers on their toes.

But it’s an experience that has defined their lives and filled them with joy.

“You don’t know what love is until you have children, and my parents always told me that,” Gerardo Huggins said. “And I always thought that it was a little cliche, but you really don’t know love, what true love is until you have kids. And it has been amazing.”

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Sean Williams and Huggins fell in love five years ago and married. They knew life wouldn’t be complete without children.

But the journey of starting a family can be complicated for members of the LGBTQ+ community.

“It’s quite expensive, and it is just a lengthy, very emotional process,” Huggins said. “I’m glad that we have each other because we help each other mentally and emotionally. It is one of the best things that we have ever done in our lives.”

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Prior to the couple meeting, Williams was already in the process of using a surrogate at a South Florida agency to begin his journey toward fatherhood.

Huggins knew he wanted to be a father as well, so the pair moved forward and now have two little girls.

“It has filled our hearts with so much love,” Williams said. “It’s given me pride. It has given me a reason to live. It makes me exercise every day ‘cause I want to live to be a hundred and see them have grandchildren.”

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When asked how they navigate society, they focus on what they share, not what could be different.

“Some people will do a double-take, and then some people just applaud us, compliment us, ask us questions just out of curiosity,” Williams said. “Straight people want kids; gay people want kids. Just because we are gay doesn’t mean we want to live a totally different lifestyle. We want the same lifestyle. We want the house full of kids, laughter and love.”

And because of that love, Williams and Huggins tell their truth proudly.

“There is nothing to sugarcoat here at all,” Williams said. “We are honest from the straight. We want them to know about the gay community, having two dads. And it’s different from other families, I mean, kids are kids. They want love, they want stability, they want to know that someone is gonna be there and we can give them more love than any other family out there.”

“Every family is different,” Huggins said. “There are moms that don’t have husbands and raise kids by themselves. There are kids with two days and some with no parents. But we are going to tell them the truth that someone helped us have them. And that love is love.”

This story is just one of the stories from the Channel 9 special: Faces of Pride.

You can watch it here or in the video below.

WATCH: ‘Faces of Pride’ Channel 9 shows you what it means to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community. (WFTV)

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