I have an interview over at The Well, a "virtual gathering place for graduate and professional women," about A Good and Perfect Gift. I was grateful to Marcia Bosscher for her insightful questions which included:

In A Good and Perfect Gift you write, "It was as if having kids ...

We went to a graduation party a few weeks back. It was a lovely afternoon, with family and friends gathered to celebrate the graduate at her home. We brought all three kids with us, and we faced a decision. There was an open space with food and drink and tables, and then an ...

I have the privilege of serving as head of Jill's House, a miraculous ministry to families of children with severe intellectual disabilities.

Jill's House, located just outside of Washington, DC, is an overnight facility that provides long breaks to families who are weary of ...

Meriah Nichols, who blogs at With a Little Moxie, recently posted a joint interview with George Estreich, author of The Shape of the Eye, and yours truly. She asked us both ten questions, including whether we would change anything about our books if we could. I answered:

There's ...

Last month I had the privilege of speaking at the Bloorview Rehabilition Center up in Toronto. I spoke about the relationship between identity and ability. Here's a short clip from the talk:

Is your identity comprised of what you do? Or who you love?

I used to sing lullabies, and every night Marilee still hears "Close Your Eyes" or "Sleep My Child" when she goes to bed. Penny and William have graduated, of their own doing, and now they want me to sing "church songs." It started at Christmas, when we went through three months ...

I'm excited to report that Parents.com has asked me to offer the perspective of a political moderate through a series of personal reflections on the upcoming Presidential election. Along with Sharon Lerner (the "liberal" voice) and Suzanne Venker (the "conservative"), I will ...

They've done it again. Yes, scientists have accomplished something incredible. And yes, their discovery poses grave ethical concerns that probably won't be addressed sufficiently and as a result people may well get hurt and lives may well be lost. It seems to go this way. To ...

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 ...