Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and this week, during which all eyes are on the accomplishments of the president, we look at his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham. A teenage mother, she married and divorced twice, had two children, and eventually went on to earn a PhD and work in international development. New York Times writer Janny Scott has written a new, comprehensive biography of Dunham called “A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mother.”

Mother’s Day is just around the corner. And aside from flowers and chocolates, what should we be giving Mom? Patrik Henry Bass, Takeaway contributor and senior editor at Essence magazine has compiled a list of books to say "thank you for not being like Mommy Dearest." Patrik calls his list “an ode to some of the moms we’re thankful we never had.”

When an unmarried woman places her child up for adoption, how much say should the reputed father — or putative father, as they’re referred to legally — have?

Courts across the country have been grappling with this question. In Ohio, a man has been fighting to stop the finalization of his child’s adoption for more than a year. Several men in states across the country have been trying to stop the adoptions of their children in Utah, which is widely regarded as the most complicated state for putative fathers who want to claim parental rights. And two other cases have just been settled in Ohio, which gave the putative fathers more leeway than previously existed to stop adoptions.

Everyone knows that it's better for families if dads are involved in the parenting process, but some researchers say moms might be making it harder for them to get involved and stay involved. We're joined by Takeaway contributor Lisa Belkin, who writes The New York Times family and parenting blog Motherlode, and psychologists Marsha Pruett and Kyle Pruett. They say recent research shows that women could be more supportive of how their husbands act as parents.