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| Acknowledgments | |
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| Introduction: About the Author, About the Book | |
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| Typical Inner Conflicts | |
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| Am I Single-Mother Material? | |
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| Can I handle it? | |
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| Do I have the proper motivation? | |
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| Is it fair to the child? | |
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| Do I have enough resources to be a good single parent? | |
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| Transitioning to motherhood | |
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| Can I Afford It? | |
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| Spending habits | |
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| Childcare costs and tips | |
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| Big-ticket expenses | |
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| Long-term issues | |
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| The cost of conception | |
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| Grieving the Childhood Dream | |
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| Living with grief | |
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| Choosing to wait | |
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| Getting to the roots | |
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| When you keep walking | |
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| Will My Community Accept Us? | |
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| "You are selfish" | |
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| Why the opposition? | |
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| Why do we care? | |
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| Helping the child | |
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| Revisiting the Murphy Brown vs. Quayle debate | |
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| Is it Fair to the Child? | |
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| The Impact of a Single-Parent Home | |
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| What the research says | |
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| Portrait of a successful single parent | |
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| How Choice Moms succeed | |
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| Moral parenting | |
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| Growing Up without a Father | |
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| The skepticism | |
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| Two loving parents | |
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| Balance | |
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| Gender identification | |
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| Self-control | |
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| Kids' perceptions of fathers | |
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| Choosing the Method | |
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| Known Donor: Pros and Cons | |
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| What can go wrong | |
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| What can go right: child's identity and medical history | |
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| Questions to ask and understand | |
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| Reflections on being a known donor | |
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| Using Donor Insemination | |
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| Alphabet soup | |
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| The ethics | |
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| Open-identity option | |
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| Who are the donors? | |
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| Choosing a donor | |
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| The process | |
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| Choosing Adoption | |
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| Thinking about age, race, special needs, contact with birth family | |
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| Expense | |
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| Finding assistance | |
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| The home study | |
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| Transracial adoption | |
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| Day-to-Day Parenting | |
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| Dealing with the Stress | |
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| How to reduce stress | |
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| How do we handle it alone? | |
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| The difference a partner makes | |
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| Tips for the caregiver's soul | |
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| Having two | |
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| Answering the Daddy Question | |
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| Answering what kids really want to know | |
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| Basic dos and don'ts | |
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| Age-appropriate expert advice | |
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| When kids meet donor dads | |
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| Confronting Identity Issues | |
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| Why it matters to the kids | |
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| Typical ages and stages | |
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| The donor-conceived child | |
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| The adopted child | |
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| The transracial family | |
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| How to Raise a Well-Balanced Child | |
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| Meet the experts | |
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| The basics | |
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| Understanding the child | |
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| Community | |
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| Mutual respect | |
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| Authoritative parenting | |
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| The four-point game plan | |
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| Raising a boy | |
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| The Legacy of Choice | |
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| Of Politics and Policy | |
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| Who gets to try? | |
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| "I was turned away five times" | |
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| Who can be a donor? | |
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| Taking it to court | |
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| Rights around the world | |
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| Changes in adoption | |
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| Where gays and lesbians need not apply | |
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| Insurance | |
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| How marriage policy pertains | |
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| How Are the Kids Turning Out? | |
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| Social development | |
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| Effect of stigma | |
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| Will Choice Kids marry? | |
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| The mothers' perspectives | |
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| Strengths and weaknesses | |
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| Conversations with Kyla, Greg, Cambra, Laurabeth, Ryan, Grace, Zac | |
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| Conclusion: Connecting the Dots | |
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| Notes | |
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| Resources | |