Meg!

1) At what age did you find yourself passionately drawn towards reptiles and amphibians? And what do you think triggered this?

The herp thing started in my undergrad years, summer of 2002 specifically, thanks to Eric Juterbock and Patrick Owen, both of Ohio State at the time, but Pat has since moved on to bigger and better things at University of Cincinnati.  Eric is worshiped by all Desmognathus fuscus (Northern Dusky Salamander) as a god, and he showed me the wonder of herps.  Pat induced my obsession with Lithobates clamitans (Green Frog, formerly Rana clamitans).  I'm 90% convinced the real way to tell Northern Duskies from Mountain Duskies (Desmognathus ochropheaus, a related species studied by Lowell Orr of Kent State University) is to ask them the simple question "Lowell Orr or Eric Juterbock?"  Keel or no keel be damned.

2) What made you decide to want to be a surrogate and a donor? Was this realization like a bolt of lightening, or more like a lingering, slow-developing idea?

It was slow, for sure.  My mom had talked about wanting to be a surrogate when I was a kid, because she enjoyed pregnancy so much, so the seed was planted at a young age.  She never did, because let's face it, when I was young the only option would have been traditional surrogacy, and while she loved being pregnant, I don't think she would have been able to give away a child genetically related to her.  I have no such attachment issues, as evidenced by having offered Ken to random strangers on more than one occasion (joking!), and ART has progressed enough that the genetic link is taken out of the surrogacy equation far more often than not, as was the case in my journey.  Before Ken, I pretty much hated kids.  They were annoying, loud, obnoxious, smelly, and too dependent for my liking.  The first few weeks he was around, I was still ambivalent about kids.  But we eventually worked things out, and he has since proven to me what amazing things kids can be, and what a life changing experience becoming a parent can be.  I think everyone that wants to be a parent should get the chance, regardless of their sexual orientation, but that's not the case with many adoption agencies today.  And because discrimination on the basis of an innate trait is wrong whether it benefits the majority or minority group, you can't say homosexuals can have surrogacy but heterosexuals have to adopt.  It's equal treatment or nothing.  I like to do what I can to help (something else that was ingrained in my head early on), so I became a surrogate.  Same with my donations (hair, milk and egg)- I wanted to help, but I didn't want to be pregnant right then because of my crazy schedule, so I did what I could.  Being a milk and hair donor were both also ways for me to get the closure I needed after the surrogacy.  

3) What are you thoughts on chemtrails? (Call me crazy. I don't mind. =) )

Crazy Meg, this is actually the first I've heard of chemtrails, so all I have to say about them is "Que es esso?"

Now let me know where to send chocolate.