Publishers Weekly
More than 15 years into the lesbian baby boom, Aizley's collection of first-person accounts by nonbiological lesbian mothers is a long time coming. Nonlegalistic and (mostly) nonharrowing, these tales are only tangentially about powers of attorney, two-parent adoption, and custody battles, instead illumining what it is to be mom and not-mom at the same time. Some pieces explore the feelings of envy and loss of would-be but infertile mothers learning to accept their easily pregnant partners. Others examine the "lesbian daddy" role, as in Polly Pagenhart's exceptional "Confessions of a Lesbian Dad"; and the lesbian stepmom role, like CNN reporter Mary Cardaras's "Family of the Heart." The most moving essay, "And You Are?" by Hillary Goodridge, describes the peril of being the other mother who is a legal and familial cipher, unrecognizable as "real" family to either partner or child in the eyes of anyone but them. These essays explain what it is to be biologically estranged from your spouse and child(ren) and the daily struggle for approval and acceptance that these women face in society and sometimes even in their own homes and hearts. (May) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
From the Publisher
Lambda Literary Finalist, LGBT Anthology
“These funny, poignant essays illuminate a virtually undiscussed topic while celebrating the joyful chaos of becoming a new parent.”
—Mothering Magazine
“Reading through their moving and often funny musings on the new situations these babas have met and conquered, one can’t help thinking that once again lesbians are quietly doing what they’ve always done: blazing trails for everybody else.”
—The Advocate
“Confessions of the Other Mother brings together hilarious, heart-wrenching, painfully honest tales of mommyhood. Not just for mothers or other mothers—but for anyone who has felt like an outsider at the playground. Funny, warm, sad, beautiful—and even sexy—the book is not only from the heart, but for the heart.”
—Joey Solloway, creator, writer, director, and executive producer of Transparent
“More than 15 years into the lesbian baby boom, Aizley's collection of first-person accounts by nonbiological lesbian mothers is a long time coming. . . . These essays explain what it is to be biologically estranged from your spouse and child(ren) and the daily struggle for approval and acceptance that these women face in society and sometimes even in their own homes and hearts.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Editor and biological mom Aizley's representative selection of the voices of those who, to the usual maternal trials and tribulations, add the difficult, revolutionary task of creating and defining unusual roles within and outside of their homes constitutes a valuable addition to the gay studies and women's issues shelves.”
—Booklist
“It’s a timely and illuminating book—the start of something larger, one hopes, and a good start at that.”
—EdgeBoston.com
“The essays in Confessions of the Other Mother are alternately fascinating, insightful, hilarious, touching and goofy, and all a testament to what a universal thing it is to be a parent. I love the Babas and the Bobbies and the mommies and the mommas, they are all the sweetest and the strongest, as women and writers, and show us, in a very entertaining fashion, that we are all in the same boat.”
—Christie Mellor, author of The Three-Martini Playdate
“Given how many lesbians are conceiving children together, this collection of narratives by non-biological mothers will fill a much-needed place in the queer parenting canon.”
—Rachel Pepper, author of The Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians
