Congratulations are in order

Jason Kuznicki and Scott Starin's first daughter, Alice Nia Starin, was born September 1, 2009, at 1:56 PM, weighing 7 pounds, 12 ounces. She’s doing well and so is her birth mom.

From the FAQ:

2. How did you get to be parents?

Open adoption, a legal process in which the birth mother is not completely cut out of our child’s life. Indeed, our birth mom chose us to adopt her child after meeting us and getting to know us.

Alice will always know she’s adopted, obviously, but this way she will also know who her birth mom was, which is important these days for genetic counseling, and also for the sense of belonging that it offers. She won’t have to wonder about — or dread — the unknown. Her birth mother will at minimum get pictures and a letter at regular intervals. We are free to arrange for more contact than that, and we may well do so.

Our agency is called Adoptions Together. They were great, and we highly recommend them.

[..] The daughter we just adopted would have been born in any case. Our family adopting her seems likely to improve her life, and her birth mother agrees.

On a population level, our adoption will decrease the overall amount of time that all adoptive children spend waiting for placements. This is a clear and objective good.

[..] When it is settled, we’ll have one of those gender-neutral birth certificates that seems to terrify the religious right. Yes, we understand it’s going to read “Parent One” and “Parent Two.” And have our names on it. It’s the collapse of western civilization, I tell you.

In closing, Jason admonishes:

The personal isn’t political. The personal is, and the political is at best a distraction. Try to remember that if you can.

Right. But please pardon me for using this to make a teensy political/moral point...

Most of the people categorically opposed to Jason's new family are also adamantly pro-life. These people ought to be ashamed of their incoherence.