Parents’ PRIDE: How adoption has allowed us to be the best dads we can be

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In this series, we celebrate the diversity of our people across Jaguar Land Rover. We meet James and Adrian Hunt-Davies who explain the challenges they faced with adoption.

Parenthood changes your life, as anyone with children will know.

For some adoption is the only route, and it is one that Jaguar Land Rover colleagues James and Adrian Hunt-Davies took. It wasn’t straightforward – but it was well worth the effort.

The little ones, who we are calling Little HD and Lady HD to protect their identities, are the result of a dream that seemed a long way off when they began the process five years ago.

James, North American HR Vice-President, says: “When you consider how far we have come since then you can only look back on becoming a parent as a special moment and one Adrian and I would do again.

“It is an emotional rollercoaster, but you need to maintain a positive mind-set to overcome any challenges.

“Parenthood is about giving a child a lifelong loving home. You can’t let anybody knock you down along the way. If you want to start a family, you need to be resilient.”

Business Analyst Adrian said the adoption process felt like barrier after barrier, but the couple understood it was in everyone’s best interests.

“We always knew it would be worth it, and we dreamed about the many special moments we would be able to enjoy with our own child. We were lucky to be able to watch them both take their first steps.”

At first the couple were concerned what others would think. But they needn’t have worried.

James said: “A girl in Little HD’s class said, ‘I will push the trolley because mummy always does it’. He responded with, ‘I want to push the trolley because I have two daddies and they always do it.’

“That little moment is a brilliant indication of how children at four can comprehend that each family can be different. Some kids have said to me ‘I have two mummies and a daddy’ or ‘two daddies and a mummy’, where their parents have divorced and remarried – but they accept that all families are different.”

James and Adrian intend to enjoy every moment of their children growing up.

Adrian says: “I want to make sure I am around rather than them being constantly in school and childcare. We have the opportunity to enjoy them growing up and that is what we are going to do.”

James adds: “For the next five to ten years we are going to live life to the full, knowing there isn’t another massive hurdle to overcome. We can finally enjoy being a family.”