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.
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.
Robert Edwards, one of the pioneers of in vitro fertilization—the procedure to which my spouse Helen and I owe our child—has died at the age of 87. I learned of his death via a lovely eulogic article by Elizabeth Comeau, the first “test-tube baby” born in the United States (in 1981). (Louise Brown of the U.K. was the first in the world, born in 1978.)
An article for CNN yesterday ran the headline “Science led to gay families: Law should follow.” I’m the last person to argue that our families shouldn’t have equal legal rights—but the headline is overstating science’s role and inadvertently perpetuating a dangerous myth about same-sex parents. The article’s author, Debora L. Spar, is president of Barnard
Gina Trapani is best known as the founder of the Lifehacker blog, but also began a much more personal venture this year—her own family. She wrote recently about her and her wife’s path to parenthood in “How to Make a Baby” for The Magazine. When a piece begins, “Choosing a sperm donor is a little bit like setting up an Xbox avatar,” you know it’s worth a read.
Five million babies around the world have now been born through in vitro fertilization (IVF), reported experts at a European conference this week. Not all of us lesbians create our families that way, of course (the technique is more often used by straight couples having trouble conceiving)—but since my spouse and I did (my egg, her womb), I thought it was worth a mention.
This week’s roundup is chock-full of superheroes and moms who rock (literally).
I’m still recovering from the holidays, so let’s be different and start with some celebrity news before diving into politics: Celebrity News Elton John and his partner David Furnish are now proud parents. “Elton John and David Furnish became first-time fathers on Christmas after welcoming a baby boy via a surrogate,” says the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has gone this year to biologist Robert G. Edwards, who developed the procedure of in vitro fertilization. Since Helen and I created our family this way, I owe him a debt of thanks.
Personal Stories The Children’s Hospital Boston blog shares the story of Sylvia (not her real name), who was born Ryan, diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder at age six and transitioned to live as a girl at the start of fifth grade. The blog has also posted an essay by Sylvia’s father—both must-read pieces, as is
