LGBT Parenting Roundup
Some of the things making headlines that I haven’t covered elsewhere, including Utah families in limbo and a Montessori school behaving badly.
Starting
A Lesbian Mom Shares Her Transracial Adoption Story
Kera Bolonik, a White lesbian mom, has written a must-read piece about adopting a Black son, in which she reflects on race, difference, assimilation, community, and more.
Audre Lorde on Family
Audre Lorde, self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet,” would have turned 80 this week had cancer not taken her in 1992. Here’s what she said about family in 1975.
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.
Russia Bans Adoption by Single People from Countries that Allow Same-Sex Couples to Marry
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev last week signed a bill into law that bans foreign same-sex couples — and single people of any sexual orientation from countries that allow same-sex couples to wed — from adopting Russian children.
Second-Parent Adoptions Ruled Legal in Idaho
Great news from Idaho this morning: The state Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a person can petition to do a second-parent adoption of another’s child, even if the two adults are not married.
Vancouver Baby First in Province to Have Three Legal Parents
A baby born in Vancouver, British Columbia, is the first to have three legal parents on her birth certificate under the province’s new law.
1978 Comic Shows Lesbian Trying to Get Pregnant
I’m always fond of showing just how far back the history of LGBT parents goes. Here’s a fun historical find, then: a comic from 1978 (that’s 36 years ago!) telling the story of a lesbian trying to get pregnant.
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.
Israeli Proposal Could Equalize Surrogacy for Same-Sex Parents
Continuing the international theme from yesterday: Israeli Health Minister Yael German has accepted a committee’s recommendations to equalize surrogacy laws for same-sex and different-sex couples as well as single people.