A portrait of Tony Hynes at Sligo Creek North Neighborhood Park, where he often visited while growing up, in Takoma Park, Maryland on Dec. 13, 2021. Hynes has three mothers: a biological mother who was unable to raise him by herself because she has schizophrenia, an adoptive mother who passed away and an adoptive mother who is still alive. Hynes is an academic in the field of adoption and his feelings about the topic are complex. “It needs to exist and yet the ways in which it operates and has operated in practice is frequently problematic.” Hynes said. “We know that we don’t live in a colorblind society, so then why do we have colorblind policies related to adoption?”