"Meet My Real Modern Family" with Acclaimed Author Andrew Solomon on The Surrogacy Lawyer Radio Show

SAN DIEGO, CA, May 26, 2011

Fans and critics of the ABC comedy "Modern Family" hail it as a landmark depiction of contemporary American life because, for one of the first times on television, a gay couple and their adopted Vietnamese daughter are included in the extended family unit. As the numbers of gay families grow either through adoption or assisted reproduction, real "modern families" are becoming more prevalent and accepted. In January of this year, Newsweek published "Meet My Real Modern Family" by acclaimed author Andrew Solomon. In the article Andrew described how he, a gay man who never expected to have children, and his husband, John, journeyed from being a couple of two to a family with four children and six adults who are joined by 'science, friendship and love in an unconventional clan' aptly described as the "real modern family."

On the next episode of The Surrogacy Lawyer: Your Guide to IVF and Third Party Family Building, Theresa Erickson, Esq., interviews Mr. Solomon about his real modern family. The show will air on Thursday, May 26 at 11AM PST/2PM EST on Voice America. They will be exploring in-depth the unexpected path Andrew and John took to build their family, why he wrote the Newsweek article and what he hoped to accomplish with its publication and the reaction he received to it from his friends, family, colleagues and the public.

Andrew Solomon is an author whose most recent book, The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, won fourteen national awards, including the 2001 National Book Award, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; it has been published in 24 languages. He is also the author of A Stone Boat, currently being developed as a film, and The Irony Tower: Soviet Artists in a Time of Glasnost. He is currently writing a book, to be published in 2012, called Far From the Tree: A Lineage of Love, which deals with how families accommodate children who are deaf, who are autistic, who are transgender, who are prodigies, who have committed crimes, and so on. He has written regularly about gay marriage and other LGBT issues.

Mr. Solomon is a regular contributor to numerous publications, including The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Newsweek. He holds a staff appointment as a Lecturer in Psychiatry at Weill-Cornell Medical College, and is currently completing a PhD in psychology at Cambridge.

"Real modern families headed by gay and lesbian parents are becoming the norm rather than the exception," says attorney Erickson. "Though Andrew and John built their family with the assistance of modern technology, its foundation was based on the same tenants of love and commitment felt by families created the old-fashioned way. As a surrogacy attorney and third party reproduction professional, I am proud to be able to help everyone experience the joy of love and family."

About Theresa Erickson, Esq.

Ms. Erickson is the managing partner of Erickson Law and the founder and chair of Conceptual Options, The Surrogacy and Egg Donation Center. In addition, Ms. Erickson is the author of the newly released Surrogacy and Embryo, Sperm, & Egg Donation: What Were You Thinking? Erickson was motivated to write her second book so she could educate potential intended parents, as well as the women who become surrogates and egg donors, about what all parties need to know if they are going to become involved in third party reproduction.

Attorney Erickson is a globally recognized expert in this specialized area of law and is a board member of the American Fertility Association and the legal director of Parents Via Egg Donation. For more information, please visit www.ericksonlaw.net and www.conceptualoptions.com.