This is the kind of story we are always afraid can happen -- tends not to in this era -- but has.

A woman I have been in communication with over the years is a television producer who is ready to create a show about the Choice Mom journey, starting at the beginning of the process.

The Cambridge Centre for Family Research has worked with ChoiceMoms.org in the past to do more extensive research into who we are and the choices we are making. Now they have a U.S.-based researcher joining the team for her ongoing work.

Three noteworthy news items to share with you this week....

This new-and-improved website has been in operation now for nearly a year. I'd like to share some interesting new data about where we tend to be living, the stages we are in, and what we prefer to read on this website.

At the recent ASRM convention for those in the fertility industry, Choice Mom friend and therapist Andrea Braverman led a discussion titled "Wrinkled Parents: Medical, Ethical, and Psychological Issues of Parenting at an Older Age."

There is a national discussion starting in the Australian Parliament about how to regulate and legislate donor conception practices across federal and state lines.

I couldn't get to Denver for the annual ASRM conference in 2010 which featured the latest findings in reproductive health. But I did compile some of the great information links that came out of it.

As I've mentioned, one news source that I follow faithfully is BioNews, which publishes information about fertility and genetics out of the United Kingdom. Here are some of their latest reports of interest to the Choice Mom community.

I'm hearing from many Choice Moms these days who are stressed because they can't afford fertility treatments, and don't think they can afford adoption. But adoption IS affordable, especially thanks to this grant -- with a deadline of October 15!

The American Fertility Association has a good overview of states in the U.S. where gays and lesbians are welcome.

As a Choice Mom, this black woman wrote to me to say she'd been invited to contribute to the September 22nd No Wedding, No Womb blogging campaign to bring attention within the black community to the idea that single black women should stop having children on their own.

That's how much it reportedly costs to raise a child these days. That is, if you are part of a married couple with middle class income. The report indicated that the amount you spend on a child depends on what you earn. But here's what the average costs tend to be.

I've long been fascinated with genetics. Partly because since my one sibling is adopted, I've always been mindful and curious about the nature vs. nurture questions. Now Wendy Kramer at Donor Sibling Registry is announcing an exciting new research project that will help explore some of these issues.

Lesbian and gay couples, and single women, have long been presumed by many to offer "worse" family structure for kids compared to two-parent heterosexual marriages. One new study reported in Time magazine indicates something we've long suspected. That might be a huge presumption.

As the latest numbers indicate, older, educated, unmarried moms are well on the rise, per a new Pew Center report. I've long maintained that about 50,000 women choose this path each year.

It's been a big week for keeping up with media requests. NOT, as I had expected, because of my recent debate with a father's rights advocate (thanks to ALL of you for adding your voice to the comments on PublicSquare.net that show our rationality), but simply accidental. Thought you might be interested in hearing what I've been repeating this week about who we are.

Well here it is...the public debate between a Glenn Sacks father's rights crony (Robert Franklin) and myself on PublicSquare.net. Read, laugh, seethe, comment. I actually love the opportunity to offer a rational perspective, even if my opponent has a decidedly different viewpoint. Such as Franklin's view that Choice Moms often trick men into having kids and then lie to keep them out of the child's life. Here's a synopsis, with links to the full debate.

Choice Mom Lori Gottlieb made headlines two years ago when she wrote an Atlantic Monthly piece suggesting that maybe single women like her, opting to have kids alone, were simply too picky about finding a partner. Now she's made headlines again with her New York Times best-selling book.

A growing number of independent websites and discussion groups have formed that connect donors directly with people who are in search of sperm. There obviously are no safeguards with this kind of contact. Many of the donors indicate they are giving altruistically, motivated only to help people create families.

Human Fertility journal published the findings of Susan Golombok's Cambridge University survey of who Choice Moms are, and are not. Notable findings: we have a high percentage of post-graduate degrees, and we don't hate men. But, of course, we knew that.

Choice Moms was a "word of the year" contender in 2009 by New Oxford's New American dictionary. I created the term only five years ago in my "Choosing Single Motherhood" book to put the emphasis on Choice, not Single, in our motherhood journey.

When Pew Center released its research report in January 2010 indicating that women are graduating from college in bigger numbers than men, it led to some discourse about why, then, so many of us are facing this Choice Mom decision.

When a woman posted about her surprise -- and some trepidation -- about finding out she would be the mother to a boy, it led in many sideways paths to a lengthy discussion on the board (nearly 100 posts!) about, in a nutshell: