Annie Leibovitz was a first time mom at age fifty one.

I love her.

And now I love her even more.

She’s had a great career, taking photos that sear into the souls of people – musicians, comedians, actors, politicians and regular folks too.

This photo of John and Yoko was taken just hours before Johns’ murder. Those of us reading this blog probably remember what we were doing when we heard about his death. Just like Kennedy, it’s a moment frozen in time for many of us.

The John – Yoko photo is one of Annie’s most famous photos, although you’d probably recognize a lot of them if you saw them.

You can tell by the photos that Annie is a free thinker – a wild spirit – and fiercely independent. I don’t know anything about her, but I know those things because she conveys them in all her photos.


She tells her story a bit like mine. Annie had a successful career – and woke up one day realizing she wanted to have children.

Medical intervention helped her conceive at fifty one. Then her twins were born to a surrogate mother when she was fifty six.

Do you have to adopt your children if they have a surrogate mom?

This many sound like a stupid question – but I just didn’t know.

Adoption.com to the rescue!

Adoption comes into play in most cases. When there are no genetic links to the couple, both prospective parents usually adopt the child. If one of the individuals is a biological parent, usually the other partner must adopt from the surrogate mother. They may be able to utilize a stepparent type of adoption, although state laws vary.

The article goes on with pros and cons and legal rights of parents from all sides.

I guess I'm still not sure how it works though. If you are in the hospital, how does the birth certificate get made out to the MOM instead of the surrogate, birth mom? I'm confused.

(Baby M was the most famous surrogate case - if you aren't familiar with it, read about it at the link above.)

Back to Annie.

She was quoted as saying:

I was a really young fifty and didn't have any trouble with my first child. At fifty eight with three young children I feel my age. Do it sooner if you can. I don't regret a moment though. I'm the happiest I've ever been.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Photo Credit
and
Annie