Unplanned Parenthood:: The Confessions of a Seventy-Something Surrogate Mother

In her ``slightly dotty old-age''-she has had a mastectomy, is deaf in one ear, has a weak bladder and a debilitating arthritic ankle-Carpenter takes on the responsibility of raising the three children of her brother Tom, dead at 79. She's 71; the year is 1991. ``There were just no other takers'' for Liz, 16, Tommy, 14, and Mary, 11, not among their seven half-sisters who are in their 40s and 50s, nor their mother, who leads something of a gypsy life. The widowed Carpenter, whose own two children are married, is contentedly settled in Austin, Tex., after her years as a journalist in Washington, D.C., and White House press secretary to Lady Bird Johnson. The tales Carpenter recounts of her attempts to be Super Surrogate Mom are poignant, sometimes funny, as she recalls the kids' messiness and other exasperations that tested her temper and added to her domestic chores, causing her difficulties in meeting her lecture commitments and writing deadlines. But the story has a satisfying resolution. Over the three years related here, patience, understanding and love grow this mismatched household into a family, nurtured by Carpenter's good will. (Oct.)