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From The New York Times and WBUR Boston, this is Modern Love.

Stories of Love, Loss, and Redemption. I'm your host, Megna Chakrabardi.

For some couples, making a baby the old-fashioned way just isn't in the cards.

But there are other options. Surrogacy, sperm banks, egg donors,

and those options can make things even more complicated. As you'll hear when actor Jesse

Tyler Ferguson, yes, of Modern Family, reads Jerry Mahoney's Modern Love essay, Mom, Not Mom,

Aunt. After five loving, fulfilling years with my boyfriend, Drew, I suddenly found myself online,

looking to meet a woman.

I spent hours pouring over profiles, bios, and stats, looking at poorly-lighted digital

pictures and videos of awkward faces uttering tightly-rehearsed, self-promotional pitches.

I narrow the flash mob of candidates to six. Then I summon Drew for his approval.

Together, we had a decision to make. One of the strangers on this website could end up

contributing half of our child's DNA. Big nose, bad hair, gross skin, oh, those eyebrows,

Drew sped down the list and blackballed them all. I fought for a few, but she has a 4.0

eventinary school, and this one teaches autistic kids to tap dance. Drew was unmoved.

...