:

When I was a girl, children who bore their mother’s surname were typically considered legally “illegitimate.” Now that science can settle paternity, questions of authenticity, legitimacy and matrimonially-linked inheritances have thankfully faded from the social consciousness. Jessica’s comment about hyphenated surnames though, and Kerry’s ...

In last Sunday’s New York Times Modern Love column, author Joyce Maynard wrote about trespassing into the e-mail account of her 22-year-old daughter, Audrey. The daughter had temporarily relocated to the Dominican Republic when her communications home were abruptly and, to Maynard, ominously silenced. From reading the correspondence, Maynard ...

Thanks to Kerry for linking to her compelling personal story of the ovum marketplace. As for the question of market forces bearing on gestational surrogacy sticker price, I have two words to illustrate the right circumstance for the right seller: Debby Rowe. $4 million payoffs not withstanding, however, I do sympathize with Kerry’s and Sarah’s ...

While I agree with Nina that the gesture of dying along with his terminally ill wife was insanely romantic, in my book, Sir Edward Downes was also insane ... (Read more in Double X.)

Emily, if you’re still collecting anecdotes from parents who are envious of their children, and children who outshine their folks, I can add to your list ... (Read more in Double X.)

I agree with you, Dahlia, about the pole dance of grief in Away We Go: The amateur night performance of barren Melanie Lynskey (Munch Garnett), while riveting and poignant, indeed seemed like it belonged in a different movie. Like Dana, I thought the quirky, uneven road movie had some great moments along the hapless, mapless, trip of expecting ...

Now that Michael Jackson has gotten what always seemed to be his wish for eternal youth, I expect participants in his secretive life will emerge for a last reminder of the extremely gifted pop star’s lifetime of sad dysfunction. The Jackson Family will surely have a stake in resolving who will attain custody of Jackson’s offspring. ...

Farrah Fawcett paid dearly for being a beauty queen with great hair and very white teeth. In the beginning it must have been fun to be a contestant on the Dating Game, marry a 6-million-dollar man, become an Angel (then an ex-angel), and have her own personal complicated love story with Oliver Barrett IV. But through it all, she was more of an ...

Anna Balkrishna’s article about her mother’s ill-fated love for a convict in Double X last week was a fascinating story, compellingly told. I posted an (unsolicited) suggestion that the author, whom I have not met, communicate directly with her mom as genuinely as she did with her readers. Anna and her mother both replied with more insight ...

My relationship with my mom remains tentative and strained. I worry that it may be damaged permanently,” writes Double X contributor Anna Balkrishna, who goes into great detail about her mother’s exuberant attempt at happiness in an ultimately doomed second marriage. “In 1996, my mother met and later married a man incarcerated in a New Mexico ...