Good eggs

For some infertile Dallas couples, science, commerce, and a few genetically attractive women provide the next best thing to Mother Nature

Comments (0) By Lisa Singh Thursday, Jun 1 2000

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"I looked at him the other day," she says of the baby, "and I was curious what features of his biological mother he possesses. I think of him as having two mothers," she adds, "the biological and the one who raised him.

"I just always saw myself as a mother," she says, her eyes filling with tears. There's a moment of silence.

Michael Hogue

Little Devin Dunn, here with his mother, Diane, entered the world through the help of an egg donor. His parents, who live in Granbury, plan to tell him about his origins when he gets older.

Michael Hogue

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"She gets real emotional when she talks about it," her husband says dryly.

Before he's even old enough to talk, little Devin Dunn will hear the story of his birth. Along the way, he may have more questions. With no siblings and no living grandparents, there may come a time when he'll want to know more about his full roots and that other woman, that faceless, nameless person who helped give him life.

"I just try to play out in my mind what would happen," Diane says.

In the meantime, they've thought of making a little children's book for him. "The story of the ugly duckling would probably be really appropriate," says her husband, "of how the swan egg got in with all the duck eggs." He gets up, walks the few steps to the kitchen counter, and picks up a black-and-white photo of himself when he was Devin's age. Looking at the photo, he says with a smile: "He looks a lot like me, doesn't he?"