Abandoned Baby Was Initially Mistaken for a Doll. Then the Man Who Found Him Was Asked to Adopt: ‘One Surprise After Another’

There’s no single blueprint for building a family.

That’s the message Danny Stewart and his husband, Pete Mercurio, hope to share through 18 Months, a new short film inspired by their extraordinary journey from subway commuters to unexpected parents 25 years ago.

The six-minute stop-motion animated short — produced by the nonprofit Second Nurture, created by Klick Health, and animated by Zombie Studio with music by Jamute — aims to spark wider conversations about adoption and reduce stigma surrounding it.

The project has also put Stewart, Mercurio, and their son back in the public eye as they reflect on the life-changing moment in August 2000 that started it all. At the time, parenthood wasn’t even on their radar.

“Not a whiff of it,” recalls Mercurio, 57. “It was one surprise after another in terms of how it all played out.”

On the evening of Aug. 28, 2000, Stewart — then a social worker — was heading to meet his boyfriend, a writer and graphic designer, for dinner. The couple had been together for three years, living in a cramped one-bedroom apartment with a roommate.

“We had no resources. We were in debt,” says Mercurio. “We were in no position to start a family.”

That night, Stewart spotted what appeared to be a doll inside a box on the 14th Street subway platform. When he looked closer, he saw the tiny figure move.

He quickly alerted authorities, and the newborn — later called “Daniel Ace Doe” — was taken into care. Stewart was briefly celebrated in the media, but once the initial attention faded, he assumed the story was over.

Then came an unexpected call: Stewart was asked to testify at a hearing to terminate the baby’s biological parental rights so the child could be placed in foster care. (The birth parents never came forward; years later, a DNA test revealed he was Pacific Islander.)

During the hearing, the judge made a surprising request — she asked Stewart if he would consider adopting the baby. Shocked, he said yes.

“That was the question that changed our lives forever,” says Mercurio.

The judge enrolled the couple in a short-lived pilot program that allowed them to quickly become foster parents and, eventually, adopt the boy they named Kevin Stewart-Mercurio. Their roommate moved out, and Kevin moved in.

As a same-sex couple raising a child of another race in New York City, they say they were largely met with support. Mercurio admits he had feared delays or bias, but the judge’s determination ensured the process went smoothly.

Kevin grew up thriving academically and socially. The couple were always open about his origin story, even creating a picture book for him when he was five. Kevin embraced it — reading it to his classmates for show-and-tell and proudly making the story his own.

Over the years, Kevin asked deeper questions about his identity and background. The family wasn’t as financially well-off as some in their neighborhood, and he sometimes felt different — not only racially, but also in terms of class.

As a young adult, Kevin shared difficult experiences of racial bias, including being avoided on buses or feeling unsafe wearing a hoodie while rushing for a train. “That was heartbreaking,” says Mercurio. “We hadn’t prepared him for that.”

Despite those challenges, Kevin flourished. In 2022, he graduated from Swarthmore College with degrees in computer science and mathematics. He now lives in Pittsburgh, working as a junior software developer at a creative agency.

While Kevin prefers to keep his life private, he supports his parents’ projects like 18 Months.

Reflecting on their journey, Stewart says, “Everything lined up just so perfectly. Call it serendipity, fate, or some higher power — it just gives me chills.”