Newsday.com BY LAURA RIVERA laura.rivera@newsday.com 10:33 PM EDT, June 14, 2009 Some grooved to the beat of pulsating house music, tossing beaded necklaces to giddy children on the sidewalk. Others advocated for same-sex marriage, chanting, “Equality now!” and carrying banners promoting their cause. Hundreds of marchers wound down Main Street in Huntington Sunday for the 19th annual Long Island Pride Parade, a celebration that drew more...

“Goodnight Jim Bob.” “Goodnight Mary Ellen.” “Goodnight John Boy.” I was 10 years old when I first heard this famous TV sign-off. The television show I’m referring to, “The Waltons,” premiered in 1972 and told the sappy-sweet story of a dirt-poor family in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. I couldn’t help but wonder why my family wasn’t more like theirs. I didn’t have six siblings or live-in grandparents like the Waltons,...

Submitted by stephaniec on Thu, 06/11/2009 – ProudParenting.com This past week I received a telephone call from a surrogate who wanted to know if it was legal for her to use her insurance for her surrogacy. She and the Intended Parent were using a contract that he found on the Internet. The surrogate seemed to think this was okay because he is attending law school so he is an attorney. I explained to her that until he passed the Bar and obtains...

Sat, 12/13/2008 – 12:29pm by Jeff of ProudParenting.com The AP reports that New York state officials will now let married same-sex couples list both their names on their children’s birth certificates. The decision, which echoes similar provisions in states that allow gay marriages or civil unions, is one of many changes since Gov. David Paterson ordered state agencies in May to respect out-of-state gay marriages. The state Health Department...

Giving provides extra income By Bella English, Boston Globe Staff  |  April 7, 2009 Charitable donations may be down because of the recession, but another type of donation is up for the very same reason: egg and sperm. More women are trying to make money by offering their eggs to infertile couples, and men are doing the same with their sperm. Egg donor agencies in the Boston area report that their applications are up from between 25 and 100 percent...

  •According to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 33% of children adoption from Foster Care is by a single parent (U.S. DHHS, 2000). •Research in the 1970s found that an estimated .5% to 4% of persons completing adoptions were single. Studies in the 1980s found from 8% to 34% of adopters were single. (Stolley, 1993) •Across the country the number of single parent placements slowly and steadily continues toincrease, both...

Whether you are a prospective biological parent or prospective adoptive parent exploring adoption, you will encounter many terms with which you may not be familiar.  We have set forth below some of the more frequently used adoption terminology.  We have also included “positive” adoption language so that in the event you choose adoption, you will help to reinforce right from the beginning that adoption is a loving choice for biological parents...

As many of you know or may not know. There is a huge battle being fought by Gay America against Proposition 8. It is so important to educate yourself on what you can do to help and what outlets exist. Some great websites exist. One being www.hrc.org they have alot of helpful information. I also recently discovered this website http:/equalityvideos.org If you have a moment please check it out, there are so many inspiring videos. You can also upload...

June 9, 2009 18 and Under New York Times – By PERRI KLASS, M.D.   Back in the 1990s, I did a physical on a boy in fifth or sixth grade at a Boston public school. I asked him his favorite subject: definitely science; he had won a prize in a science fair, and was to go on and compete in a multischool fair. The problem was, there were some kids at school who were picking on him every day about winning the science fair; he was getting teased and...

By The Associated Press 06.04.2009 1:34pm EDT (Tallahassee, Fl.)  The state Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to the Florida Bar’s right to oppose the state’s ban on gay adoption. Liberty Counsel, a faith-based legal group, had asked the high court to prohibit the bar’s Family Law Section from filing a friend of the court brief in an appellate court that was considering Florida’s ban of adoptions by homosexuals. The justices ruled 5-2...