Congratulations to Stacy, who won a copy of What Makes a Baby
Details of the book are at my first giveaway post; suffice it to say that no matter how you created your family, and no matter your gender identity, the book includes you. It does this by focusing on the key part of human reproduction—the meeting of egg and sperm—and leaving plenty of room for parents to shape the telling of how that happens. (If you need some suggestions on how to do so, Silverberg, a certified sexuality educator, has written a very useful Reader’s Guide. You can download it free at his Web site.)
I’m leaving the contest open through the weekend this time. Hope you’ll enter for a chance to win.
The Prize
A copy of What Makes a Baby, signed by Cory Silverberg.
The Giveaway
Leave a comment below listing some of the people who helped you create your family, biologically or through emotional or other support. (Not personal names, just role/title, e.g., “our sperm donor,” “our OB/GYN,” “our child’s birth parents.”)
I will randomly select the winner from all comments received before 11:59 p.m. ET, May 19, 2013.
Additional Rules and Restrictions
U.S. residents only, please. One entry per person. Don’t worry if your comment is moderated; once I approve it, it will appear based on the time you submitted it. Spam comments, including off-topic or commercial comments, will not count. If you win any one of the drawings for this book, you cannot play again for this book. (You can leave a comment to participate in the discussion, but I won’t enter you in the drawing.) If you are or have been a paying advertiser (or an employee of a paying advertiser) on Mombian, you can’t play.
You must also leave a valid e-mail address with your comment. Don’t leave a postal address, though. If you win, I’ll contact you by e-mail about shipping. I will then share the winner’s name and postal address with the author, for the sole purpose of allowing him to mail you your prize directly.
I am a member of the Amazon Associates program, and get a small referral fee from all purchases made at Amazon.com via links on this site. You are under no obligation to purchase through them.
What makes a baby… Well, everyone. From the start with just us and the doc plus donor, to my imaginary friends on the Internet and their advice, to neighbors and the clerk at the grocery store who welcomed our family once our first was born.
For us, it took two birth parents, four attorneys, two judges, three social workers, and a lot of paperwork.
For us: Staff at the sperm bank, an anonymous donor, the fed ex man, our doctor (who gave us a rousing “go sperm go” cheer!), my wonderful partner and her fabulous womb, and our friend who took time off of her regular hospital duties to become our personal nurse to assist with the delivery of our beautiful daughter.
I’d love to have this as our son is getting more interested in this topic! For us, building a family involved a lot of failed fertility attempts and then two wonderful birthmothers!
Our donor and his boyfriend!
And some great midwives.
A reproductive endocrinologist and an embryologist were essential for us. My brother and his wife gave great support and were parenting role models for me.
And even before that, when we were still at the “thinking about it” stage, I happened to meet one of the early “gayby boom” moms through work. She was the first person I’d met who’d created a family this way. She really helped us understand what was ahead, and made us feel welcome.
I relied on our fabulous OB, the staff of a local alternative insemination clinic, our anonymous donor, and the moral support of my best friend who was also trying to get pregnant at the same time. Lesbian mom bloggers played a crucial role, too, in making it clear that I really could, for real, with a little luck, be an actual and legitimate parent one day.
The nurses at the fertility center. So nice and supportive through a difficult process.
Some of the many helpers in the creation of our family: everyone who works at the Alternative Insemination Program, our anonymous donor, my primary care physician, our lawyer, our supportive and loving families.
My daughter was conceived by IVF, using my partner’s egg and anonymous (ID-consent) donor sperm, and I carried her. We worked with a great team of doctors, and had tons of support from family and friends, including a very significant financial contribution from my parents.
I’ve looked at this book before, and I think it covers a lot of variations, but not ours. Do you know of any books that do?
We’ve already explained it all to her (she’s 4 1/2) and for quite a while she’s been able to explain it all, but it would be nice to have a book, too.