Mary Cheney returns to work

by Roger Sinasohn (Subscribe to Roger Sinasohn's posts) Jan 15th 2008 11:27AM

Categories: Just For Moms, Babies, Money & Work, Gay Parenting, Celeb Parenting

As Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter, a published author, and experienced executive, I'm sure Mary Cheney could afford to stay home with her seven-month-old son Samuel indefinitely. Instead, she is returning to work as a Vice President (like father, like daughter!) of Navigators, LLC, a "full-service issue management, governmental relations and strategic communications firm". Basically, they are professional lobbyists and campaign managers.

Mary gave birth to her son Samuel David Cheney back in May of last year. There is no word on whether or not young Sam's other mom, Cheney's partner, Heather Poe, will be staying home. For a lot of mothers, being a stay-at-home mom is not an option. For others, returning to work after giving birth is something they look forward to. Whatever the case here, Cheney got to spend more time with her son than a lot of new parents do and, now, I think congratulations are in order on the new job.

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Comments (22)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Kathy 1-15-2008 @ 4:17PM

Only Mary Chaney is Samuel's mother. Heather Poe is not even related to Samuel.

Kathy

roger.sinasohn 1-15-2008 @ 4:46PM

Um, no. Heather Poe is very much Samuel's mother.

Biology does not make a mother.
Genetics does not make a mother.
Sex does not make a mother.

Love makes a mother.

From what I understand, Heather Poe loves her son as much as any other mother, biological or otherwise.

My father-in-law is not genetically related to my kids, but he loves them every bit as much as my mother-in-law does. He is definitely their grandfather, just as she is their grandmother. Period. Heather Poe is Samuel's mother, period.

Kathy 1-15-2008 @ 5:10PM

I have no doubt that Heather Poe loves Mary's son.
But Mary is Samuel's biological parent. If Mary had married a man and Samuel had been born to that union then Samuel would have two biological parents.
Heather is not related to Samuel. But that doesn't mean that she doesn't love him.

roger.sinasohn 1-15-2008 @ 5:33PM

You wrote "Only Mary Chaney is Samuel's mother. Heather Poe is not even related to Samuel."

So, are you saying that without a genetic link, one cannot be the parent of a child? I'm not sure, but I suspect there are a whole lot of adoptive parents out there (not to mention the adopted kids) who would completely disagree with you.

According to you, it seems, being a parent is strictly a matter of either genetics or sex, depending on how you look at it. Is that really how you define parenthood? And does that mean that the love of a mother or father for their children, while nice and all, really isn't relevant?

What a cold, sad world you must live in. I am glad for little Sam Cheney that his moms do not share your point of view.

Kathy 1-15-2008 @ 5:10PM

Jennifer 1-15-2008 @ 5:19PM

So if a child is born to a husband & wife through the use of a sperm donor then the husband is not the father of that child???

We live in a day & age when families are being redifined. Heather Poe is as much that child's mother as Mary Cheney is. And should they choose to have another and Heather Poe is the one that carries the baby that child will be just as much Mary Cheney's as it is Heather Poe's.

Kathy 1-15-2008 @ 5:32PM

I think we all agree that Heather loves the child. I'm not trying to start an argument here because I like ParentDish and don't want them to have this to deal with.

Meagan 1-15-2008 @ 5:51PM

You kind of did just start an argument though Kathy. By stating that genetics are the only thing that can make a parent you're saying that adoptive parents, and (as is the case here) gay parents can't actually be parents. I'll leave it at that, but that's a pretty huge thing to say without expecting some backlash.

I'm not sure what you mean by not wanting to have Parent Dish have to deal with this. Deal with a debate?

Joy 1-15-2008 @ 8:48PM

I'm not sure what you mean either Kathy. ParentDish having to deal with what??

I also feel Love makes the parent.

Kathy 1-15-2008 @ 9:08PM

Hey guys,
I only meant that a child needs a mother (a woman) and a father (a man) who are committed to each other in marriage.
This is the way God intended. This is why man and woman were created.

Joy 1-16-2008 @ 12:31AM

So your homophobic then (in other words?) Or wait, just against gays? What don't I understand??????

Meagan 1-15-2008 @ 9:18PM

That's still an awfully big only. Huge actually, now that you come out and say what you meant in the first place. It may not seem like a major issue to you but there are plenty of people who don't agree with your views on what it takes to make a family. I'm one of them.

SKL 1-16-2008 @ 1:53AM

OK, back to whether H.P. is the kids' mom.

It is not up to Roger to decide whether or not H.P. is Samuel's mom. If she wants to be the kid's mom legally, she needs to adopt the child, assuming it's legal wherever she lives - and if not, she's not the "other mom" legally. If she nevertheless wants to be referred to as "other mom," that's a decision to be made by H.P. and M.C. and nobody else.

There are lots of kids I love but I am not their "other mom." I live with women who love my kids but they are not my kids' "other moms." And for that matter, I know lots of children from broken homes who don't refer to their moms' current live-in boyfriends as their "other dad."

I have no idea where Roger gets the idea that he can assign the name of "X's other mom" to anyone other than his own life partner(s). Frankly I think he has a lot of nerve.

roger.sinasohn 1-16-2008 @ 2:30AM

According to the White House*, "[Samuel Cheney's] parents are the Cheneys' daughter Mary, and her partner, Heather Poe." I don't think anyone would consider Heather Poe to be Samuel's father. So unless you know of something else, I think Mom is about all that's left.

*http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/images/20070523-4_v052307db-0034jpg-731v.html

SKL 1-16-2008 @ 2:48AM

Roger, until they introduce H.P. as "other mom," you don't decide what they are calling her in relation to the child. The fact that she is M.C.'s "partner" and referred to as "parent" on a Website (most likely for simplicity's sake, unless she is the legal parent) does not automatically mean that her name in the household is "other mom." Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Maybe M.C. is the "other mom." Maybe nobody is. Maybe they are using different nomenclature so the kid can play at the playground without getting looked at funny. Or are you a personal friend of theirs so you have the inside information? Your arrogance (and ignorance) in the above posts really rubs me the wrong way. "Love makes a mother" is bullshit.

roger.sinasohn 1-16-2008 @ 3:32AM

"Other Mom" is a title. "other mom" is a designation. I'm sorry if you are not familiar enough with English to be able to tell the difference.

I don't know that Mary Cheney calls Dick Cheney "Father", but he is, according to all reports, her "father". So I felt comfortable in saying "like father, like daughter!" I did not say "like Father, like Daughter!" You didn't seem to have a problem with that.

Heather Poe is one of the child's parents. Given that she is female, it would not be appropriate to call her a dad/father/pop/old man. Of all the possible choices -- mom, mother, ma, mommy, mater, etc. -- I chose the familiar, informal label "mom". If that offends you, I'm sorry. Let me know what politically-correct, nanny-state appellation suits you and I'll use that next time.

roger.sinasohn 1-16-2008 @ 3:39AM

"Maybe they are using different nomenclature so the kid can play at the playground without getting looked at funny."

This is the daughter of the Vice President of the United States of America. Even if you haven't heard of her, the rest of the world has -- I don't think she's likely to be able to slip about unnoticed.

Or are you just looking for any possible reason, no matter how far fetched, to jump on me?

Lori 1-16-2008 @ 9:18AM

"Love makes a mother is bullshit." ???? SKL, I've read a lot of your comments. I don't often agree with you, but I enjoy the debate they create. But, quite frankly, this comment is ridiculous. Didn't you adopt your own kids? How do you know that Samuel wasn't adopted by Cheney's partner? I can't even understand how you could say "love doesn't make a mother." That doesn't even make sense.

SKL 1-16-2008 @ 9:48AM

Roger, your whole purpose on ParentDish is to jump on people, so I think if you can dish it out you ought to be able to take it.

As you saw, I was not the first or only person who took issue with your "other mom" choice of words and the same is true whenever I "jump on" you. You rarely acknowledge that you might have said something wrong - usually you do what you've done above, attempt to belittle others in the hope that your following will become even more loyal.

It is true that your posts tend to rub me the wrong way (though I have also agreed with you on some things). But, you have to admit (though you probably won't) that you choose most of your topics based on how controversial they are. And you are not very careful to avoid offending people you disagree with. Or hurting the people you are "reporting" about.

I have never heard anyone but you call anyone "other mom." And I've been around a lot. So maybe you are the one who is out there. Maybe you should keep in mind that San Francisco is not a microcosm of the US or the world.

As for love making a mother, love is necessary to be a mother, but it is NOT enough. I raised my baby sister but I am not her mother, or her other mother, or any designation other than her sister. I am my children's mother because I legally adopted them. Foster mothers, custodial grandmothers, and many others may have more love for a child than his "mother," but they are NOT the child's mother, and they have no parental rights, unless they go through additional steps.

Meagan 1-16-2008 @ 12:25PM

SKL, this post wasn't particularly controversial until the comments started. You do seem to have a bit of a grudge against Roger.

I agree though that love does not "make" a mother. It is perfectly possible to love someone without being their parent. But, while love is not the only requirement of being a parent, neither is legality the only definition of a parent. It is perfectly possible to fill the roll of, and be considered, a parent, without being on a legal document. That's why "foster mother" a title you included, contains the word mother. That's why the term "surrogate mother" exists. And it's pretty clear that both Heather and Mary are both acting as far more than either foster or surrogate mothers, and are in fact full fledged parents. More to the point, in this case, there is no reason to believe that both Mary and Heather are not the legal parents of the child. You imply that it's incorrect of Roger to assume that they are both legally parents, but I think it's unfair of you to assume that they're not.

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