Davao’s famous gay couple, Aztec Barba and Dodjie Batu, have always blazed the trail for the rest of us. First, they have been together for 22 years now, which is quite a record even for heterosexual couples (married or not).

Second, they made their same-sex union official three years ago in Connecticut, USA, where gay marriage is legal. And now, they are raising a daughter together.

“Dodjie and I were not really planning to adopt a baby. But I got a strange call last November 14 from a woman who asked for my help. She asked me to go to this hospital because there has been an emergency and she could not pay the medical bills. I am not really close to this woman but I think she was once a client of mine. I didn’t know why I was the first one she thought of when this happened to her, but I am so glad she did,” shared Aztec.

When Aztec got to the hospital, she saw this poor baby wrapped in a blood-stained towel. It turned out that the woman who called him was the grandmother of that baby. Her 16-year old daughter has just given birth to the baby at home and she was bleeding profusely that mother and baby had to be rushed to the hospital.

Aztec didn’t think twice about helping them. After the hospital bill was settled, and mother and baby were doing well, the woman told Aztec that they are giving him the baby as they cannot afford to keep her. Aztec immediately called Dodjie, who was celebrating his 40th birthday in two days, to ask him if they can keep the baby. And Dodjie, who did not plan on having any children of his own, surprised himself by saying yes.

They offered to give money to the baby’s family but they refused telling Aztec that they just want him to promise them that he will take good care of the baby and give her a bright future. And take care they did. First, they cancelled Dodjie’s big 40th birthday party. And when the nurse at the hospital told Aztec that his baby did not have any baby stuff, he went ahead and bought all the baby things he could get his hands on.

In the next couple of weeks, Aztec and Dodjie’s life revolved around talking to lawyers and meetings with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to have the baby legally adopted. Since gay couples cannot legally adopt in the Philippines, they decided to make Dodjie the adoptive single parent between the two of them since he looks more masculine than Aztec and more likely to be seen as less threatening to the homophobic establishment.

They were able to have the baby baptized in the Catholic Church last Sunday, February 19, 2012, too. Apparently, the Catholic Church no longer requires the marriage certificate of the parents of a child to be baptized these days (given the fact that a lot of illegitimate children of the rich and powerful are being baptized everyday).

They named their baby Basia Dominique. “Basia is a Polish name derived from Barbara, which means daughter of God. Barbra Streisand is such a gay icon, of course, and I want the baby to have Barba (Aztec’s family name) in her name. Plus Basia is my favorite singer. And Dominique is a French name which means servant of God and it is also an androgynous (neither specifically feminine or masculine) name, which I like,” explained Dodjie.

Baby Basia had three costume changes in the course of her baptismal day, which is something to be expected from the unica hija of two of Davao’s prominent fashion designers who also own Patahian, together with Aztec’s brother, Popoy Barba, Basia’s ninong. Many people have remarked how fortunate baby Basia is to have such doting parents in Aztec and Dodjie. But Aztec insists that it’s the other way around. “We are the fortunate ones to have Basia in our lives.

She has blessed us so much and enriched our lives in profound ways. I work even harder now and it is more meaningful because I know it is not just for material things, but for a beautiful human being,” said Aztec. Dodjie feels the same way. “I am a changed person now. I did not expect that being a parent can be this wonderful. Now we live for someone greater than ourselves. She is the best gift ever,” Dodjie gushed.

Basia may not have a traditional family in the sense that she has two gay men as parents with the legal and social complications that bring. But she will certainly be surrounded with lots of love and, of course, fabulous outfits. And isn’t that all a girl needs?