They got the call on New Year’s Eve with only a handful of hours left in 2015. The car, which was making its way through Oklahoma’s country roads at the time, erupted in cheers and tears. The adoption had gone through.

Vince Montez still tears up when recounting the story more than a year later. He sat on the right side of the couch in his home near Fort Logan while his husband Quentin sat on the other side, their two kids nestled between them.

“All you could hear in the car was screaming and yelling,” Vince recalled. “Everyone was so happy.”

Vince and Quentin Montez are one of the 1,915 certified foster homes in Colorado. They’re also one of the many LGBTQ foster families. Despite making up 4 percent of the state’s population, LGBTQ families comprise 12 percent of the state’s foster parents, according to an online survey by the Colorado Department of Human Services.

Read more at denverpost.com.

DENVER, CO – JUNE 15: Vince (L) and Quentin with their two adopted kids Marcus (11) and Auriah (5) on June 15, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. They have been adopted parents for three years and are working toward adopting two more siblings. The state frequently uses them as emergency placement options.(Photo by John Leyba/The Denver Post)

John Leyba