My husband's mother died nine years ago, and his grandfather died a few months ago. So he is headed back to New Orleans this week to sort through some of his grandparents' "stuff," alongside other family members. We've been talking about this strange process of divvying up an ...

Last month I had the pleasure of attending my first awards ceremony ever: the 63rd Annual Christopher Awards in New York City. The Christopher's exist to celebrate media that affirms the highest values of the human spirit. Due to alphabetical bias (aka my last name is Becker), ...

There she was, my little girl, standing in the front row, wearing a dress from my childhood and her patent leather pink party shoes, singing every word of the kindergarten concert. Wait–I should say–belting out every word of the kindergarten concert, performing every motion, ...

Ross Douthat recently wrote a column about "Eugenics, Past and Future." He writes:

given our society's track record with prenatal testing for Down syndrome, we also have a pretty good idea of what individuals and couples will do with comprehensive information about their unborn ...

A Good and Perfect Gift has been selected by Amazon as one of 100 books offered for discount prices on Kindle during the month of June. It's available this month for $2.99–please spread the word! (If you don't have a Kindle or other e-reading device, or if you're like me and ...

My daughter has two mothers.

My daughter also has two fathers, although only one is in her life.

I didn't know this at first. When Emma was placed with us at birth, I believed what I'd been told: that adoptive parents are the "real" parents. That love is enough. That as long as ...

The other day my son was looking through a box in the closet that had old photos in it. He would grab each photo and ask me if that was him or his sister. At the bottom of the box he found a framed photo of me holding a newborn baby in my arms. He asked the same question. I didn't ...

On the second day of Rosh Hashanah, we read the akeydah - the story of the binding of Isaac. This year I am chanting the first three verses:

After these things, G-d tested Abraham, saying to him "Abraham!" And he said "Here I am." God said, "Take your son, your only one, the ...

We walked, side by side. Slowly. A close friend was going through a divorce when he sighed and said, "I think God meant for children to be with their biological parents."

Heartbroken at being separated from his daughters, he'd become keenly aware of the inherent—seemingly unavoidable—wrongness ...

A few weeks ago I wrote a post called Why Adoption Feels Harder than Abortion. My intention with the post was to help people like me–people who have not ever experienced an unplanned pregnancy, people who have never faced the fear and stress and sadness of a choice between keeping ...

William came home from school a few weeks back and he said, "Mom." He said it as a sentence, the way he does when he has something important to tell me. And then again, "Mom. My friend Ashley is not good at listening. And she screams."

William is three. He attends a local public ...

Some of you may know that Bristol Palin has recently joined the roster of Patheos bloggers. Some of you may also know that Bristol and I have at least one other thing in common–she has a brother with Down syndrome who is close in age to Penny. So I noticed when she wrote about ...

I received an email from a reader of this blog a few weeks ago. Lois Uptigrove shared her eulogy for her friend Delane with me, and I asked her to edit it a little bit so you could enjoy this portrait of a life well lived as well.

Delane Ohlhauser was born in 1932 in the farming ...

For any of you who have checked my website lately, you might have noticed it's been a bit static. My web designer is closing shop, so I'm in the process of moving to a new site. Although the current site is still worth your time as far as seeing a slideshow of Penny as a baby ...

I'm working on a new e-book with Patheos right now. It's tentatively titled "What Every Woman Needs to Know About Prenatal Testing." I'm writing it in an attempt to offer a relatively short and accessible guide to pregnant women who want to know what questions to ask and how ...