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The Rudolph-Maynard Family
Dana and Helen live in the Boston area with their five-year-old son, who is about to start kindergarten. They became parents after 10 years (and many interstate moves) together. They created their family through donor insemination, with Helen carrying the child, but using Dana's egg. Because of this, they successfully petitioned the state of New Jersey, where they were then living, to declare them both as parents from the moment of birth, without requiring Dana to adopt. (New Jersey was not, at that time, doing it as a matter of course, as they are now.)
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Helen was initially the one to stay home with their son, but changes to Dana's job when he was about six months old led them to both seek new positions. Helen, a semiconductor engineer, got the better offer, and went back to work, while Dana stayed home, which she has been doing ever since. This switch in the stay-at-home parent sometimes befuddles straight friends, but they are happy for the flexibility.
Helen remains in the semiconductor field, working on tools to make computer chips. Dana has used her experience as a mom as well as her decade in the online industry to launch Mombian, a blog of parenting, politics, and diversions for lesbian moms and other LGBT parents. She also writes a regular Mombian newspaper column for several LGBT papers. She and Helen together produce the "She Got Me Pregnant" video blog in partnership with After Ellen, in which they discuss parenting, celebrity lesbian moms, and various intersections of lesbian parenting and popular culture.
As a family, they enjoy the outdoors, Legos, board games, children's and science museums, and far too many trips to IKEA.
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