BORN IN THE MORNING

I was born in the morning, but it wasn't yesterday morning. Someone recently wrote asking to publish excerpts from this blog in another format. What an honor. All they needed was my name, photo, address, birthdate, social security number and signature on a release form. I think I will title my work "Identity Theft Waiting to Happen".

We all know by now not to reveal personal information just because an email arrives from someone official-sounding. I directed these folks to my lawyer.

I'm trusting enough to give embryos to a couple who proved themselves to be good-hearted through emails (and a background search on a licensing board website). But it's not clever to reveal private identifying information just because someone writes to ask for it.

I write this column to help myself and others think through complicated parenting issues. I don't make any money from the blog, not even through the ads it seems every blogger posts. I'm open to well thought-out comments and legitimate media requests. Crazy ranters and computer scammers please look elsewhere.