LGBTQ Parenting Roundup
It’s time for another roundup of LGBTQ parenting news! Here are a few of the stories I haven’t covered already.
Assisted Reproduction
Most Lesbian Moms Satisfied with Type of Sperm Donor
The majority of lesbian moms who conceived through donor insemination are satisfied with their choice of a known, unknown, or open-identity (child may contact when 18) donor, according to new research based on the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS), the longest-running and largest study of U.S. lesbian families.
Mistaken Sperm, Harmful Racism
As a mother who used a sperm bank to start my family, and as someone who works in my day job for a program that addresses racial inequities, among others, I feel compelled to write about a disconcerting lawsuit that has been making headlines: That of a lesbian mother suing a sperm bank for sending her the wrong sperm — something she discovered only after she was pregnant. The added complication is that much of the lawsuit revolves around the fact that the donor is Black, while she and her partner are White, and had chosen a White donor.
Mommy Man: It Takes a Village to Create a Child
Jerry Mahoney’s “Mommy Man: How I Went from Mild-Mannered Geek to Gay Superdad,” is a wonderful addition to the growing genre of LGBT parenting memoirs, not only because of its sharp writing and smart humor, but because it shows us an aspect of LGBT parenting we haven’t seen in a book-length memoir before—two men pursuing parenthood through gestational surrogacy.
From Coast to Coast, Changing Laws to Protect Our Families
A new law in Washington, D.C. is drawing lesbian couples from other jurisdictions to give birth there — and a bill making its way through the California legislature could simplify the paperwork and clarify parenting arrangements for same-sex couples in that state.
New Study Aims to Shed Light on Donor Families
Many people, LGBTQ and not, have used donor eggs, sperm, or embryos to create their families. I did. A new study by a researcher I have admired for years seeks to understand the experiences of these families — and if you’re part of one, she needs your help.
Melissa Harris-Perry Credits Gay Dads for Her Path to Parenthood Via Surrogacy
MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry had her second child on Valentine’s Day last week — surprising many viewers of her show because she wasn’t “visibly pregnant.” She gave birth to her first child in 2002, but had her uterus removed in 2008 after suffering from uterine fibroids. She credits “a dear friend and his husband,” who had their child by surrogacy, for suggesting that she do the same.
How to Contact Your Sperm Donor
If you created your family like I did, using an unknown sperm donor, what do you do if your child one day says she or he wants to contact him? The authors of a new book for donor-conceived people and their families offer some helpful hints.
Needles, New Jersey, and New Families
There’s a recent AP news story going around about a “new twist” on baby making for two-mom couples. Thing is, it’s not so new — it’s the method my spouse and I used 11 years ago to start our family, with her carrying an embryo made from my egg and donor sperm. It seemed doubly appropriate to mention it again today because we started our family in New Jersey — and as of yesterday, same-sex couples in New Jersey can legally wed. We’re happy to be celebrating as former New Jerseyans.
A Two-Fer of Good News from California
Despite that whole Prop 8 thing, California continues to be a leader in legal protections for LGBT families.