Sperm Donor

On Valentine's Day we proclaim or reiterate our undying passion for our current significant other. We rush to send roses - nothing less than a dozen of the reddest and longest stemmed will do. And chocolates, in large heart- shaped boxes festooned with gilt and lace. We give balloons or teddy bears or teddies. And we place large personals ads in the paper with messages of devotion ornamented with a heart. But if you're really in love in the '90s, consider giving this: a promise that if love goes sour - and the statistics are pretty good that it will - you'll agree to attend "exit counseling" with your now insignificant other.

Q: My 9-year-old daughter rarely sees her bio-dad, my ex-husband. He moved 300 miles away when she was 2. He left us when she was six months old. Anyway, I am now engaged and she calls this man "Dad. " The last few months,she has talked to me about changing her last name to my fiance's last name after we are married. Is she old enough to make this decision or should I dissuade her? A: Kids aren't stupid. They know who cares for them and puts in the time, love and sacrifice necessary to really parent.

Blood tests of 290 women at Pennsylvania Hospital failed to turn up the mother from whose placenta a fertility serum was made that later was shown to contain the AIDS antibody, the hospital has announced. Hospital officials had invited the 581 mothers who gave birth at the hospital this past June and July to take the AIDS screening test in an effort to locate the source of the contamination. Hospital officials fear the mother is unaware she is carrying the AIDS antibody, and added that the tainted placenta could have come from more than one mother.

I was modestly heartened by the Baby M decision. But much work is needed before surrogacy can be sage for all. I must consider a surrogate contract if I am to father a child. My other options are dumping my beloved partner (which stinks) and adopting (which is costly, far from certain, and risky to both parent and child). I don't know which I would choose, but I would like a surrogate contract to be among them. Some call me selfish. "Why should you have to rear your own blood child?"

First you could buy books on the Web. Then you could trade stocks. And now, you can bid on human eggs at a new site called Ronsangels.com, which offers the eggs of super-models to the highest bidder. These would-be parents hope to make an investment that will pay off in a beautiful child. That's like paying extra for something you're already guaranteed to get. If you invest more money in a house or a car, you'll get a more beautiful house or car. But any baby you have will be beautiful.

The judge who awarded custody of "Baby M" to her biological father strongly backed what he called "alternative methods of reproduction," but called on states to regulate surrogate births. Superior Court Judge Harvey R. Sorkow forged legal history yesterday with his decision to uphold a contract between a sperm donor and a surrogate mother. In his 121-page opinion, however, the judge noted that new laws would "give our society a sense of definition and direction if the concept is to be allowed to further develop.

Mayor Nutter took to the pulpit Sunday to rebuke the so-called flash mobs of teenagers that have terrorized city residents, declaring: "this nonsense must stop. " "If you want to act like an idiot - move," Nutter said at Mount Carmel Baptist Church on Race Street, his home church of 25 years. "Move out of this city. We don't want you here anymore. " Nutter's remarks came after a series of recent attacks by roving crowds of young people. In one incident last month, a man in Old City ended up in the hospital with broken teeth and a wired jaw after a group of teenagers attacked him at Fourth and Walnut Streets.

NURSE JACKIE. 10 p.m. Mondays, Showtime. NEW YORK - When it comes to awkwardness, Merritt Wever is a Zen master. As Zoey Barkow, the eager puppy of a junior nurse who trails Edie Falco's character on "Nurse Jackie," the 30-year-old actress can perform a scene over and over with serious focus, all while wearing pink hospital scrubs imprinted with bunnies. During the show's third season, she eats doughnuts without using her hands, stacking them up into a tower and hollowing them out with her teeth.

Placido Domingo yesterday announced his sponsorship of a worldwide contest to uncover singing talent and shower its winners with TV exposure, career help and cash. Competitions will be held this month and next in the United States, Britain, Argentina, Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain and Sweden. National winners will compete in semifinals in Vienna in May, and the finals will be in Mexico City Sept. 17. "In my travels to different parts of the world," Domingo said, "I have become convinced that outstanding singing talents exist everywhere.

Sometimes news is what doesn't happen. We got through a whole summer without a flash mob. Set the clock back one year, and Philadelphia was plagued by gangs of youths who rolled through Center City, fueled by boredom and disaffection, and gathered by social media. They assaulted a community. We weren't alone - Boston and Chicago had similar troubles. But Philadelphia got the biggest black eye in the national media. Mayor Nutter took to his church's pulpit in August, calling out "butt-head" kids and "sperm-donor" parents.