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Posts of the Week: Painted Pregnant Lesbian Bellies

Painting one’s pregnant belly is apparently the in thing. The women at both Two Mothers McGill and The Owl and the Octopus have recently posted pictures of their artful abdomens.
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Catching up with “Pregnant Butch”

Back in December, I wrote about A. K. Summers new online graphic memoir, Pregnant Butch. She’s recently finished posting the last pages of Chapter One and the first few pages of Chapter Two—which cover the beginning of her second trimester—so I thought this would be a good time to remind readers of her work and encourage you to take a look. (Some pages are NSFW; we’re talking about human biology here.)
Also, I realized I’d never posted the full interview of Summers I did for my newspaper column, so here it is.
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Same-Sex Adoptive Parents Profiled in New Film

Conceiving Family, a documentary that follows five same-sex couples in Canada along the path to parenthood, is ironically named—all of the couples adopt, rather than biologically conceive, to bring children into their families.
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New Campaign to Recruit LGBT Foster and Adoptive Parents

Over 100,000 children in the U.S. are awaiting foster or adoptive homes. The non-profit RaiseAChild.US wants to help them. On March 27, the organization announced it is partnering with the Human Rights Campaign Foundation on a pilot project to recruit LGBT foster and adoptive parents.
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Interested in adoption? Live in the greater Boston area? The Home for Little Wanderers, a private, non-profit child and family service agency, is having an information session for prospective LGBT parents this coming Thursday. They’ve long been an ally of our community.
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The Changing Face of Adoption

A major new report from the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute explores the changing face of adoption in America, and the “new reality” in which “the vast majority of infant adoptions are ‘open,’ meaning the two families have some level of ongoing relationship.” Not only that, but the demographics—such as race, ethnicity, nationality, and class—of both adopted children and adoptive parents are shifting, too.
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Post of the Week: “Pregnancy Changes Things”

This week’s highlighted post, “Pregnancy Changes Things,” comes from Yin of Living a Loving Life as Wife and Wife. She talks about how pregnancy has changed her relationships with her partner, her mother, and her friends. It’s a quiet reflection on changes that I’m guessing many others have felt, too.
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“Pregnant Butch” Takes a Comic Look at Pregnancy and Gender
You’re probably saying, “What would make this Monday morning just perfect is a new comic about a pregnant butch lesbian.” What? You’re not? Well, you should be. Go check out A.K. Summers’ new comic/graphic tale, “Pregnant Butch” over at comic collective site Act-i-vate. It’s a funny, insightful, semi-autobiographical look at “a butch dyke enduring that [...]
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Blogging for Adoption: There Are No “Alternative” Families
The Family Equality Council is holding a “Blogging Adoption” day today in honor of National Adoption Month. I’ve written a lot about adoption lately—some great new resources have just come out, including a book looking at recent research on adoption by lesbians and gay men, edited by David Brodzinsky and Adam Pertman of the Evan [...]
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Blog for Adoption November 21
Passing this along from Steve Majors, director of communications at the Family Equality Council. Looking forward to reading your posts! On Monday, Nov. 21, we are inviting you to Blog Adoption. As you may know, November is National Adoption Month and we are working to raise awareness about the obstacles LGBT families face in opening [...]
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Journalist Seeks Known Donors Involved “Part-Time” with Kids
I’m passing along this message in the hope some of you can help. Tim Murphy, a journalist in New York City, is doing an article on straight sperm donors who remain involved “part time” in the lives of the children. Please contact him directly (or pass this message along) if you or someone you know can [...]
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New book Explores Lesbian and Gay Adoptive Families
(November is National Adoption Month. Here’s my review of a new book on adoption by lesbians and gay men. Originally published in my Mombian newspaper column.) There have been a number of studies over the past 25 years on lesbian and gay parents and their children, but few have looked specifically at lesbian and gay [...]
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A Bit of Lesbian Mom History
I posted this newspaper column of mine last year, but I think it bears repeating as part of LGBT History Month. Enjoy this look back at how lesbian moms have been a central part of the LGBT rights movement since the beginning—while simultaneously waging some intensely personal battles to maintain contact with their children.
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Steve Jobs, Pancreatic Cancer, and Adoption
Like Steve Jobs, my father passed away recently because of complications after pancreatic cancer. If you want to learn more about this disease, I recommend checking out the Lustgarten Foundation, which is dedicated to its treatment, cure, and prevention. I’m also going to jump on the bandwagon and share the Steve Jobs video that is [...]
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Proud Parents
I keep seeing bumper stickers around town with slogans like, “Proud Parent of a Middle School Honor Student,” and “Proud Parent of a Soldier.” They remind me, in this season of LGBT Pride, of how often “pride” is associated with both LGBT identity and parenting. We LGBT parents have a lot of which we can be proud, in a lot of different ways.
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U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and his partner Marlon Reis are expecting a baby in September, reports the Denver Post. That will make him the first out LGBT parent in Congress. Polis has refused to tell the press how he and Reis will be creating their family—and I give him a lot of credit for [...]
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More Same-Sex Couples Adopting, Says New York Times
Nineteen percent of same-sex couples raising children had an adopted child in the house in 2009, reported the New York Times yesterday. That’s up from eight percent in 2000. The article also looks at the struggles same-sex couples have to start families in the many states where they cannot jointly adopt. I covered a lot [...]
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Last Chance to Win a Copy of Adoption Nation
Congratulations to Kate, who won a copy of Adam Pertman’s book Adoption Nation (Second Edition) in the giveaway yesterday! For more about the book, or to read everyone’s comments about adoption, see my previous post. Here’s today’s giveaway post, the last of three. First, some adoption-related news: Yesterday, the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld a lower court [...]
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Adoption Nation Book Giveaway
Congratulations to Carrie, who won a copy of Adam Pertman’s book Adoption Nation (Second Edition) in the giveaway yesterday! For more about the book, or to read everyone’s comments about adoption, see my previous post. Here’s today’s giveaway post, the second of three. First, some adoption-related news: The state of Virginia is considering whether to follow [...]
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A Passport to Adoption Nation (and a Giveaway)
(I told you it was going to be bookish around here for a while. But there’s a giveaway at the end of the post, so read on.) We live in a time when the definition of “family” is not changing, but broadening. It is and always has been about love and commitment—and for those of [...]
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New Social App Helps Lesbians Find Sperm Donors
Lesbians seeking to get pregnant now have a new tool at their disposal: Dōnr, a new app for mobile devices that lets them check out the credentials of potential sperm donors. Like the social app for gay men, Grindr, that helps men find potential mates nearby, Dōnr lets lesbians access profiles of men in close proximity to see if they might be suitable candidates for providing genetic material.
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LGBT-Friendly Grants to Help with Adoption Expenses: Deadline Approaching
Need help with adoption expenses? An LGBT-inclusive nonprofit, Helpusadopt.org, is offering grants between $500 and $15,000 for just that purpose. The spring deadline for their semi-annual grants is April 15, so you’ll have to get moving if you want to apply. I have no affiliation or experience with the organization, so you’re on your own from here.
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LGBT Parenting Roundup
School Issues The New York Times reports on parents who are objecting to inclusion of same-sex families, gay people in history, and other LGBT content in school curricula. If you read the above, you should also read the great piece in the Advocate by Stuart Biegel, a member of the education and law faculty at [...]
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