“We finally have a teenage girl in the house!” proclaimed my older son the first time I posted on Facebook and Twitter five years ago. He was describing my gleeful acquisition of skills any self-respecting teen possesses. The genesis of my entry into social media was my love of writing. With a blog I could share publicly, I found an effective way to discuss adoption, surrogacy, assisted reproduction, and LGBT issues that impact my life professionally and personally.

I advise prospective adoptive parents and intended parents that social media can be a potent way to broadcast the decision to adopt or pursue surrogacy, enlist the help of family and friends, and connect with potential birth mothers and gestational surrogates.

My latest effort was not easy for me, but I succeeded in creating and uploading a video to YouTube. Based on a piece that has resonated for adoptive parents since I wrote it more than twenty years ago, my “Adoption Ten Commandments” presents a road map for private adoption. Now I have an update: my talented son, who is very cool about his own adoption, produced this new version of my Adoption Ten Commandments video: