**I had to register my profile in my mother's home state due to living outside the U.S.

I am a married mother of 2 nine year old daughters. I live in Ontario Canada due to U.S. immigration laws that do not recognize my relationship or my marriage and therefore prohibit my spouse to immigrate to the U.S. as my spouse is a Canadian citizen. As a result of my move to Canada, my biological daughter, who is a U.S. citizen, has been barred from visiting our home in Canada. We have been in an ongoing battle for the last 3 years just to get back into a courtroom so we can fight to gain back my full parental rights. This battle takes up most of our energy and much of our time.

I have a B.S. in Psychology and my wife is in the second year of a Master's in Social Work. 

Last fall the emotional toll of all the travel and upset began to take it's toll on my physical health in a big way. I had always prided myself on having a robust immune system but for the first time in my life my body was unable to be well. I spent the entire fall in 2 week periods of getting extremely ill, running fevers of 104.9 and getting them down to 102.00, all to start the cycle all over again. I literally ran a fever non-stop for 4 months. I could only afford to see a doctor 1 time and the round of antibiotics I was given worked to bring my fever down to 101.9 for a few days. In the end, I made major sacrifices in order to nurse my body and my immune system back to health as I realized during that few months that without my health I couldn't accomplish anything else. I no longer take my health for granted and now I actively manage the stress caused by the situation with my daughter.

I have paid the price for being gay in every way imaginable at this point. From marrying a man in the first place due to societal pressures, to losing the majority of my parental rights and my right to mother my child, all the way to my physical health.

My choices are mine and I made choices in the past based on what I knew at the time. It's just sad that at that time I was taught that following my feelings and being my true self would send me to hell and cut me off from everyone I knew and loved.

As a result of our experiences of growing up lesbians in a hostile heterosexual world, it is our family goal to teach our children and every child we know, that they are loved and accepted and that it is a wonderful thing to be just who they are. 

Another result of our painful experiences is that we are now a family of mental health nuts :)