The Sunday Magazine

Gay dads make legal history and create an extraordinary family - an Alisa Siegel documentary

The story of the first gay couple in Canada to co-adopt two children.
Left to right: Nicholas McKinstry, Michael Rattenbury, Kolwyn McKinstry, and David McKinstry (Credit: Alisa Siegel)

David McKinstry was desperate to be a dad, but as a gay man in the 1980's, his options were few. After a struggle lasting more than twenty years, a match was finally made with an orphan in India. Suddenly, a second child appeared, when a desperately ill mother approached David with a proposition. David and his partner went on to make history as the first gay couple in Canada to legally co-adopt children. Between then and now, there have been years of challenge, celebration and surprise. 

Alisa Siegel's documentary is called, "All The Way Home".
Left to right: David McKinstry, Dorothy McKinstry, Michael Rattenbury, Nicholas McKinstry, and Kolwyn McKinstry. At their home (Woodhaven Country Lodge) in Buckhorn, Ontario. (Credit: Alisa Siegel)