Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
DESIRE TO ADOPT INSPIRED GAY
THEY shed more than five stones in a bid to become parents.
And now Feargal and Eugene Sherry-toner are the first same sex couple to be accepted as adoptive parents in the Southern Trust.
The couple, who have been together for more than five years, said married life bliss led to a pile-on of pounds.
And with busy jobs and no real incentive to get fit, they were in for a wake-up call this year when they applied to adopt.
Feargal, 34, a Spar manager from Waringstown, Co Armagh, said: “We had to go to a medical as part of the process to apply to adopt. We knew we needed to slim down.
“When we were told we were a bit obese we weren’t offended, we knew it was a post-marriage comfort zone. But we also knew we had to do something or face the consequences.”
Eugene, 33, a buyer for a hospitality company, started his weight loss attempt at 14st 7lbs and today weighing 11st 13lbs, he says it feels like a real achievement.
He explained: “It was on honeymoon to Florida in 2016 that we really started talking about having a family and we came to the conclusion adoption would be our preferred choice.
“We know plenty of other same-sex couples who have successfully adopted and we felt ready for a family.
“We’d been eating a bit randomly for a good while because of the pressures of work. Feargal was eating mostly from the deli at the Spar and I was grabbing food at different hours of the day and none of it that good. We were also partial to a takeaway for convenience and a treat.
“Feargal got in touch with Sonya Mcallister who runs We Slim Together, to say we needed help. When he explained our hopes for a family, she was on board right away and within a few days we were sorted with all the information we
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needed and the ingredients that would kick-start our weight loss.
“But there was no point in eating properly now and again. We had to cut out the convenience and processed food and start from scratch.
“But that meant shopping differently
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and organising a week’s meals.” With Eugene the main cook in the house, the couple saw the weight start to drop off steadily. They are both still on the We Slim Together plan.
Feargal said: “I never thought I’d manage to lose three stone but they’ve gone and although my weight goes up and down a bit over birthdays and Christmas, I’m good at staying with this new lifestyle and I feel a lot better within myself.
“But our incentive from day one was having a family and we didn’t knew even if we lost weight whether it would happen or not. The only definite was that we wouldn’t be accepted to adopt if we remained overweight.
“December 13 brought us amazing news when we were approved as potential adoptive parents. It was overwhelming.
“It was such an emotional moment to know that we could now be parents if we were matched with a child or siblings. I shed a tear. It all felt so right and such a relief too.
“Now our energy levels are much better, everything seems a bit easier and we both feel better about