"It's not a pregnancy, but you feel immense joy."

PalmÁlex is nine years old. He's "fun, kind, and loving." He gets up saying "I love you" and giving out kisses. He handles frustration badly and "is the town's mayor" because "he greets everyone on the street." Aina will be two. She's "smiling, independent, always in a good mood, and sleeps well at night." In short, "she's come to enjoy life." Rosa "has a lot of vitality and character, a sweet baby." Her adoptive parents proudly describe them. Andrés and Alberto are Álex's parents; Miguel is Aina's; and Marta is Rosa's mother. They have been deemed suitable by the Mallorcan Institute of Social Affairs (IMAS) of the Consell de Mallorca (Mallorcan Institute of Social Affairs) after completing training and interviews with all the necessary guarantees for minors. "We look for the best families for the children, not children for the families. They are the ones who have the right to be adopted, as a protective measure. And it shouldn't necessarily be as long a process as people think. We try to make it as quick as possible, but always taking into account the child's time and needs," explains Apol lònia Socias, Island Director of Services.

Mallorca closed 2024 with 20 adoptions: 13 children and seven dolls. 11 of them were up to three years old; six were between four and six years old; and three were over seven years old. The average age was 3.5 years. 65% of the adopters were heterosexual couples; 25% were gay couples; 5% were lesbian couples; and 5% were single-parent males. Currently, of the 35 applications for adoption, 40% are heterosexual couples; 37% are gay couples; 16% were single-parent women; 3.5% were single-parent men; and 3.5% were lesbian couples. According to statistics, the number of homosexuals waiting to adopt now exceeds heterosexuals in Mallorca. "The most significant increase has occurred among homosexual and single-parent men, because women have more options to become mothers. In any case, it is not a selection criterion. Suitability is determined only by considering the needs of our children. Not everyone achieves this. We are very clear so that good ones know what they are getting into. There are families. The focus is always on the child," confirms Ángela Ramis, head of the adoption service at IMAS.

Those who begin the adoption process face "an uncertainty that they must accept." They don't know when it will end or if they will be able to complete the puzzle of their child's previous life. "We give them a lot of information, but we don't always have all the details. Children come with a burden, and the adopter must have the capacity and skill to support them through the trauma. It's a plus for families," Ramis continues.

When a child enters the adoption program, the Administration has already exhausted all resources to return the child to their biological parents. This is always the priority, but it never takes precedence over the child's well-being. "Many children are safely returned to their parents. Others live with relatives who have proven they can care for them. Furthermore, not all children are adoptable; many have suffered great harm and cannot live together," she adds.

Prospective adoptive parents answer a questionnaire that defines the profile used by IMAS to find the child they can best raise. They decide the age range, whether they are willing to care for a child with special needs, some type of disability, of a different ethnicity than their own, or if they would like to maintain contact with the biological family. The more restrictive the profile, the lower the chances of finding matches. And vice versa. This explains why the oldest family in the program has been waiting since 2018, and why others who began the process in 2024 have already adopted.

Andrés and Alberto married in 2019 and within a few months began the adoption process. "We were absolutely clear about it. There are many children who don't have a home, and we didn't want to resort to surrogacy," says Andrés. They ruled out the 0-3 age group—the most popular—they had a very open profile, and IMAS told them about Álex, a six-year-old boy included in the Esperanza program for children with special needs or who had greater difficulty finding a family due to their age. "The wait didn't seem long or anxious, but we were surprised to get the call so soon. We were always able to make our decisions," he continues.

During the process, many families change and open their profiles. "We hadn't considered open adoption, which allows contact with the child's relatives, and ten minutes ago we were talking to the biological father. We were supposed to go to the beach with him. He sends us messages telling us he loves the three of us very much and appreciates what we do for his son. Our son tells his friends he has four dads and they freak out. In reality, the fact that we're gay is the least exotic thing in his life. Love isn't substitutive, but additive.

Before Álex arrived home and slept with them every night, as they were recommended to create an emotional bond, they exchanged an album with the babysitting family that had raised their son. Álex made Andrés and Alberto a drawing of the three of them in a car, on the way to their new home. The integration is gradual: contacts intensify until the child finally lives with the adoptive parents.

An atypical case

Miguel is 43 years old, gay, and a single parent. He had always wanted to be a father, but "out of ethical principles," he also ruled out surrogacy. "Gay people start from a very different situation than heterosexuals. We start with a 'no' because we know we won't have children. They start with a 'yes', but sometimes they can't. I didn't have that anxiety because I couldn't have them on my own. For me, this project came before that of a couple, which can end. But, being.

Miquel's is an atypical case, practically nonexistent. He adopted a four-month-old doll that the mother, a young European woman, had given up at the hospital. He left in writing that he wanted to preserve his anonymity from his daughter. "During a pregnancy, you have nine months to project what life will be like with the baby, but I only had 15 days to get used to the idea," says this civil servant, who enjoyed 26 weeks of paternity leave. He didn't recognize himself when Aina called him 'dad' for the first time, although it filled him with pride. "It's very enriching and a very transformative experience. We're not the same. It helps you overcome fears and is a different kind of love, healing and comforting. She's the person I love most in the world, and she keeps my mind always on alert. Nothing can happen to her," she adds.

The day they called Marta from IMAS to present her adoption case with all the information, they offered her four or five days to think about it. She would see the photo of her baby only if she accepted, as established by protocol. "I didn't need a single day to think about it. I said yes," reveals this 45-year-old teacher, who had a profile of up to six years with special needs. "Because of my training and my personality, I was always clear about it. When they told me how many months the doll was, I thought it was years. It took me by surprise," confesses Marta, who never wanted to be a biological mother, but an adoptive one. The adjustment was "very easy" thanks to the foster family, with whom she maintains a good relationship. "You can't quite believe she's your daughter. It's not a pregnancy, you don't have her inside you, but the feeling is building, growing little by little. It's an immense emotion," she reveals. "There are many myths about adoption due to lack of knowledge. It's free, and single parents have the same opportunities. It's definitely recommended," she concludes.

The names of the witnesses in this report are fictitious to protect the privacy of the minors and families involved.