LGBT parenting is growing by leaps and bounds everywhere we look: from passing important state adoption laws to Modern Family’s casually inclusive TV representation of a gay couple co-parenting.
But in truth, the journey from gay adult to parent is hardly a ‘Presto!’ magic button route.
How does a queer woman decide to become a mom? When and why does she choose to, and most importantly, how does a lesbian get pregnant? We’re not talking the birds and the bees here, we’re talking about a million questions, surprises, and misconceptions cleared up along the way to gay parenthood.
Enter the amazing xoJane.com, the virtual home of Sassy and Jane magazine editor Jane Pratt’s honest and uplifting female community, and San Fransisco writer Michelle Tea. On the site's author bio, Tea is described as:
…the author of a novel, four memoirs, a collection of poetry and the Young Adult Fantasy book A Mermaid in Chelsea Creek, forthcoming from McSweeney's. She is founder of RADAR Productions, a literary non-profit that runs the international Sister Spit performance tours, among other things.
She also recently turned 40 and realized, "I forgot to have a child!”
This rare inside perspective of the mind, heart, and body of“a single queer lady who hardly knows a single sperm-producing man” as she journeys toward motherhood is an addictive and endearing xoJane series called Getting Pregnant with Michelle Tea.
Since mid-November, Tea has been sharing her experience with the world wide web as she goes from a single lesbian, living a self-described “fairy tale life” that included jet-setting while working hard to make ends meet as a journalist and writer in San Fransisco, CA, to successfully securing a sperm donor, attempting to get pregnant, and along the way, meeting someone who could be the woman of her dreams!
Adorable, honest, and refreshingly real, xoJane and Michelle Tea are raising standards for inclusive LGBT lifestyle articles and the results are quite simply spectacular. Not to mention, a stellar read.
Follow Michelle Tea’s journey from the start on xoJane here.
We at SheWired can't wait to see how it all works out for Tea and wish her a happy, healthy, fertile future.
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