Meet Benjamin Carpenter – a kind-hearted 33-year-old man, living in Shepley, West Yorkshire, who is widely known around the UK as a truly inspiring human being. The reason behind it is four adorable but, sadly, disabled children who this single gay dad adopted to help them grow in a better world.
Benjamin admits that from a very young age he already had a desire to be a parent. “Growing up within a religious family I always had a caring disposition instilled in me, adoption was always at the forefront of my mind as having biological children was never a priority for me,” Carpenter told Unilad. “Often children with an additional need can be overlooked, in in a lot of cases be classed as “hard to place” however I totally accept that not everyone can care for a child/children with an additional need and quite rightly you have to be true to yourself when on the adoption journey about the type of children you feel best suits you and your family set up!”
Benjamin’s journey began 10 years ago when he first adopted his oldest child, Jack. The boy is now 10-years-old, he has autism and OCD which means that the whole family should adapt daily to Jack’s needs. 6-year-old Ruby has mobility issues and physical disabilities. 5-year-old Lilly is Ruby’s biological half-sister who is deaf and severely impaired, too. The whole family has learned British Sign Language (BSL) in order to communicate effectively with her. The youngest member of this family is 2-year-old Joseph who has Down’s syndrome and many complex needs associated with it.
It took 3 years for Benjamin to convince authorities that he is really serious about adoption, and to become one of the youngest gay men in the country to adopt a child. This super-dad says that all this comes with struggles and he still hears a lot of different opinions about being a single gay dad, but he couldn’t be happier with his choice. “I often get passing comments like 'it's not right' and 'because you are gay then all of the children will be gay then won't they' other comments I get are he must be doing it for money?” says Ben. “To me, they are just comments I can handle it. I do find myself correcting silly naive comments. In all honesty 70% of the time, they do see sense once it's explained to them.”
However, Benjamin admits that the world and its views are changing and is open to the idea of adopting a fifth child. “For me, all my children bring me the absolute joy! I wake up in the morning and think what would my life be like without children? I know it would be empty that's for sure!”
Meet Benjamin Carpenter – a 33-year-old man who is widely known around the UK for his kind heart
The reason behind it is four adorable but, sadly, disabled children who this single gay dad adopted to help them grow in a better world
“Growing up within a religious family I always had a caring disposition instilled in me, adoption was always at the forefront of my mind as having biological children was never a priority for me”
Benjamin’s journey began 10 years ago when he first adopted his oldest child, Jack
The boy is now 10-years-old, he has autism and OCD which means that the whole family should adapt daily to Jack’s needs
6-year-old Ruby has mobility issues and physical disabilities
5-year-old Lilly is Ruby’s biological half-sister who is deaf and severely impaired, too. The whole family has learned British Sign Language in order to communicate with her
The youngest member of this family is 2-year-old Joseph who has Down’s syndrome and many complex needs associated with it
It took 3 years for Ben to convince authorities that he is really serious about adoption, and to become one of the youngest gay men in the country to adopt a child
This super-dad says that all this comes with struggles and he still hears a lot of different opinions of being a single gay dad, but he couldn’t be happier with his choice
Benjamin even was announced as an Adopter Champion of the Year in 2015.
“For me, all my children bring me the absolute joy! I wake up in the morning and think what would my life be like without children? I know it would be empty that's for sure!”
