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Gail

About Gail

Gail is Ima ("Mom" in Hebrew) to Leigh (born via Gail 6/06) and Ira (born via Lyn 5/09) and wife to Lyn. She's a mathematician by trade and has done some work applying game theory to division of household labor. She enjoys thinking about how people create their identities as parents and issues between GPs (gestational parents) and NGPs (non-gestational parents).

Reading about Leigh’s birth, my thoughts as the birthing mom

by Gail January 25, 2012

I know that Lyn has heard a lot of great feedback on the birth story that she wrote from the NGP perspective (see part I and part II). I was also excited to read the story, but I didn’t really expect to learn anything I didn’t already know. I was there, after all, and Lyn [...]

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Donor Sibling Registry: yay or nay or …

by Gail September 26, 2011

About six years ago, I got pregnant after insemination with frozen donor sperm, and nine months later Lyn and I had a baby girl, Leigh. Like most parents, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Unlike most parents (but perhaps like many parents actually reading this), part of what we had no [...]

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Reading kids’ books: Do we love them?

by Gail August 9, 2011

Since becoming a parent, I have realized that there is a whole genre of children’s books whose sole purpose is to remind us and our children of how much we love them, such as: Mama, Do You Love Me? I Love You Stinky Face Love You Forever I used to think they were really sweet, [...]

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Donor conception — is everything changing?

by Gail July 4, 2011
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Donor conception has been a hot news item lately. First, in May, came the ruling in British Columbia that shut down the practice of anonymous sperm donation in BC (the equivalent of the ID release in the US system is still available there). This is obviously a controversial ruling. There is talk that it could [...]

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“I wish I had a mom and a dad”

by Gail June 21, 2011

Last week, before we went to the queer pride parade, Lyn and I were talking with Leigh about what pride is and why we have it. It was a good conversation. Then suddenly Leigh blurted out, “I wish I had a mom and a dad!” Just as we were both opening up our mouths to [...]

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Review of Donor Unknown

by Gail May 9, 2011
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Recently, we got to see the film Donor Unknown thanks to an online screening at the Tribeca Film Festival. Actually the online streaming was pretty crappy (or our wireless is pretty crappy, or both), and the film paused every couple of minutes, but we watched anyway. I guess that tells you something. One thing it [...]

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Leigh on Non-Bio Moms

by Gail April 24, 2011

Lyn and I were deep in conversation a couple of days ago about an academic article I was reading on lesbian non-bio moms. Suddenly Leigh cuts in. “Excuse me! Excuse me!” Leigh shouts. “What Leigh?” I ask in a fairly exasperated tone because the conversation was really good. “I want to be in the conversation.” [...]

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How do we refer to parents in two-mom families?

by Gail April 5, 2011

I was recently reading an article about queer parents, “(How) Does the Sexual Orientation of Parents Matter” by Stacey and Biblarz, and hit up against a not uncommon academic term for a lesbian non-biological mother — “social mother.” The whole time I was reading the paper (which is really good, by the way) I kept [...]

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An old scar, revisited

by Gail January 30, 2011

When Lyn was pregnant with Ira, I wrote about how talk about the donor, and about Leigh’s resemblance to me, was a little painful. Things have changed quite a lot in this area since Ira was born. For one thing, both Lyn and I are more comfortable with donor issues. We’ve talked to Leigh about [...]

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Thoughts on “The Kids Are All Right”

by Gail August 31, 2010
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Lyn and I finally went out to see “The Kids are All Right” over the weekend. We got a babysitter and everything. Since we’re behind the times, we really don’t want to write another review. There are lots of good ones out there, including reviews from Mombian and Lesbian Dad. We agree: it’s a good [...]

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I read that donor conception report and lived to tell the tale

by Gail August 17, 2010

Well, I did it. Sort of. When I posted briefly about the “My Daddy’s Name is Donor” report by the no-really-we’re-not-anti-GLBT Institute for American Values last month, Bionic Baby Mama asked that I please take a look at the report because she had and she wanted someone else’s opinion. So now I have, but only [...]

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