Wild child 2

I was recently asked, "What still needs to be changed to make it more accessible for people in the LGBTQ+ community to become parents?" Some states have yet to begin treating all of their citizens equally. Some won’t give a nonbiologic gay partner custody along with the bio-parent. Some won’t even let you do an after-the-fact adoption . You have to go to another state, do the adoption there, then come home to your home state and have them recognize the adoption. I am not aware of any legitimate government aim advanced by this, but it adds stress and stigma and time and costs to surrogacy journeys, which takes resources from kids. The previous administration advanced several policies which discriminated against LGBT families. It sought to let adoption agencies reject gay parents. It fought the automatic parentage of nonbiologic parents, even in married same- sex couples. It removed protections against discrimination of trans soldiers in the armed forces and of LGBT … [Read more...] about LGBT Parental Rights: Where We Stand

On June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a widely celebrated decision that all 50 states must issue marriage licenses to couples regardless of their sexual orientation , likely ending an era of patchwork marriage rights for same- sex couples in the United States. In a same-day op-ed for the Los Angeles Times , Douglas NeJaime, law professor and faculty director of the Williams Institute at UCLA , argues that “equality for gay families” has not been delivered with marriage. To ensure family dignity for gays and lesbians, says NeJaime, the next step is removing legal barriers to surrogacy. By failing to embrace commercial surrogacy, NeJaime continues, states will be effectively limiting the definition of family to heterosexual couples who can bear their own children. For many decades leading up to present day, a number of discriminatory state laws have specifically excluded LGBTQ people from adoption and parental rights . This history is heart-breaking. Lesbian, … [Read more...] about Is Family Equality a Right to Surrogacy?

Source: "Othello's Lamentation" by William Salter, from Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 We start this series of comments on aesthetic cognitivism with reflections by the psychologist Ellen Winner, author of the book How Art Works: A Psychological Exploration . Aesthetic cognitivism refers to the philosophical claim that aesthetic engagement advances knowledge and enhances understanding. Is this claim true? How would we know? By Ellen Winner In his book, Ways of Worldmaking , philosopher Nelson Goodman makes the bold claim that “the arts must be taken no less seriously than the sciences as modes of discovery, creation, and enlargement of knowledge in the broad sense of advancement of the understanding” (Goodman, 1978, p. 102). Painter György Kepes said that both the artist and the scientist “reach beneath surface phenomena to discover basic natural pattern and basic natural process" (Kepes, 1960, p. 6). These statements have a “feel right” quality to them, … [Read more...] about What Does Aesthetic Cognitivism Really Mean, Anyway?

Photo Courtesy of E! Giuliana’s openness about her marriage to entrepreneur Bill Rancic; infertility ; the IVF process; a successful battle against breast cancer; pregnancy via surrogate; and now parenting one-year-old baby Duke have had a profound affect on many who follow her journey. She has played an important role in breast cancer awareness and opened doors for infertile couples looking for another way. The Best Parenting Advice She Has Received When you have a child, advice seems to come from every direction. However, there is usually that one piece of wisdom that stands apart from the rest, as well as standing the test of time. For Giuliana it’s this: “Every child learns and develops at his own pace. The worst thing you can do is … go to the park and compare your child to other children his age. Every child is different.” Putting the Smartphone Down A big issue for moms is being present for their kids without distractions—something that has … [Read more...] about Giuliana Rancic on the Journey of Motherhood