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Max Emerson opens up about failed adoption process with Andrés Camilo
"We just started sobbing," the actor, writer, and social media influencer recalls.
Max Emerson and Andrés Camilo are not only two well-recognized influencers in the LGBTQ+ community as individuals, but even more as a couple who's been together for many years and got engaged in August 2023.
In June 2024, Emerson and Camilo shared a new development: they were ready to become parents and had officially started the adoption process for a child. Unfortunately, that process didn't go as planned for the beloved couple.
In a new Voices interview with Out, Emerson revealed that he and Camilo went through a failed adoption process after that initial announcement that they intended to become parents. "We spent three nights in the hospital with this woman, who hadn't told her family [about our adoption process]," Emerson told Out's community editor Marie-Adélina de la Ferrière. "Her family mounted a campaign to stop [the adoption], which was successful."
Emerson added that his initial approach to the situation, along with Camilo, was to support the mother. But "it wasn't until they were sitting in their car afterward that the emotional weight hit them," Ferrière wrote. At that point, Emerson recalled that he and Camilo "just started sobbing."
In the meantime, writing has become a coping mechanism that's worked for Emerson.
"I really like to let things sit for a long time before I write them," he explained, which has led to ideas for novels, social media content, and even new creative endeavors.
It's easy for social media influencers to be perceived as online figureheads who live perfect lives that don't include issues, obstacles, and setbacks. And when influencers experience traumatic events, they can also be accused of using those circumstances to boost social media engagement and ultimately monetize over that trauma.
While that blanket statement and generalization isn't a fair definition of every single content creator on social media, it still feels refreshing to see Emerson (@maxisms; 1.1 million IG followers) and Camilo (@andrescamilo___; 452,000 IG followers) opening up about such a delicate experience in a public manner.
You can keep reading Max Emerson's full interview for the Voices section of Out.com.
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
