I recently finished John Irving's wonderful book, "The Cider House Rules." It was made into a poignant movie in 1999 and primarily deals with the life of an orphan, Homer Wells, and the controversial issue of abortion. The book handles a lot more though, including the concept of family and the fact that there is no clear definition of what a family is, contrary to the ideal nuclear family in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Like heterosexuals, gays and lesbians have to deal with whether they want children, when they want them, and by what means they will raise them. But unlike heterosexuals, we also have to deal with varying restrictions against gays and lesbians adopting children, and like some heterosexuals, we also choose to learn about procedures such as artificial insemination.
