I'm not pregnant. If I were 17, this would be cause for celebration, but when you are ready for a baby and you can't just materialize one, an empty womb feels like an empty heart.

With Mothers Day 2013 approaching, the California-based nonprofit Forward Together has created a series of ecards that reflect the diversity of motherhood and parenting, a gesture that traditional Mother's Day cards have woefully ignored. Check out a slideshow of the beautiful cards.

My concern is for my kids and others like them in gay-dad-led or lesbian-mom-led families. They are left out in the hoopla surrounding either Mother's Day or Father's Day. They get the message that their family lacks something, but that is not true.

Mother's Day is just around the corner and if you're anything like us, you're probably still trying to find the perfect gift. But, fear not, gentle...

The wedding went off without a hitch and, over the years, dissolved into a silly and cherished family memory. At that very time, unbeknownst to me, my moms were forking over time, energy and legal fees to make their union and joint custody of me as legal in the eyes of the court as a married couple's.

During the Supreme Court arguments in the Proposition 8 case last week, there seemed to be some confusion about the social science evidence concerning same-sex parents and their ability to raise children, but there is no "disagreement" among the experts about what the research says.

Now that I'm blogging about growing up with two mommies, a friend of mine recently asked me, "Did you ever think you might be a lesbian, since that's the lifestyle you knew from home?" Obviously I have to answer this one with a story.

Next month Andrea has to have a minor operation. But to the government and the hospital's administration I'm nobody in relation to my son. That's how it is: We're family and yet not family, and we stagger back and forth from joy to anxiety.

We didn't marry for "rights" or "benefits." We married for the same reasons that most people do -- both gay and straight. Because we loved each other, we wanted to stand up in front of our friends and family and make a lifelong commitment to one another and we aspired to build a family together.

It is at the core of me and my generally sardonic outlook that the first moment of my creation happened by way of a stranger masturbating into a cup, and the second involved my mother and a glorified turkey baster.

In connection with the DOMA and Proposition 8 cases, Family Equality Council and our coalition partners have filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court that reflects the voices of children with LGBT parents, because these children are in a unique position to speak to two questions.

The latest episode of Critical Thinking Hosted by Waymon Hudson focuses on the anti-gay myth that has been blocking LGBT equality progress for decades: the vicious and debunked "Save Our Children" argument that gays are somehow dangerous to children.

In his recent State of the Union address, our commander-in-chief promised, "We will ensure equal treatment for all service members, and equal benefits for their families, gay and straight." I chafe at "families, gay and straight." What is a gay family? For that matter, what is a straight family?

That candle's lever refused to click into the "off" position. Too cold and tired to fuss with it, I brought it into the house and set it at the center of the breakfast table, where it glowed all night. And then it glowed all day. And then it glowed all week. And then for two weeks.

"Who's the real mother?" I have been asked that question many times -- too many times. But this time was different. I was at a doctor's office, and my son was standing next to me and knew exactly what the nurse was asking.

While matters of gender and biology may be relevant to making a child, it is parenting that makes a parent. The ability and the desire to love a child unconditionally has nothing to do with one's gender.

I hobbled to my computer and spent an hour reading articles with titles like "Top 10 Ways to Be a Good Dad," to see what I might be missing. Turns out these articles were not so much about being a good dad as they were about being a good parent. Huh.

I concluded a few years ago that the Miller-Jenkins custody-kidnapping case's greatest significance as a social turning point was in revealing the new willingness of many in organized religious conservatism, "even the lawyers among them, to applaud and defend the defiance of court orders."

As the 20th anniversary of what my family calls "Adoption Day" came and went this spring, I have been thinking about the promising changes in society's attitudes toward families like ours and relationships like my moms'. The promise of the future, however, is not without some peril.

Dr. Samuel Pang is the Medical Director of the Reproductive Science Center of New England (RSC), a pioneer in helping lesbians and gay men become parents. I talked with Dr. Pang about these procedures and issues facing our LGBT community.

My mother keeps prodding me to come out of the closet. She wants me to accept my rightful place in the world as a gay woman. I am probably the only straight woman in America whose mother keeps a watch for latent homosexual urges.

My mentors and role models have guided me to pursue work success as a measure of my life success, and I am grateful for that, but I am deeply saddened by the lack of mentorship and example that I have found for gay motherhood among professional women.