Michelle Darne admits that when she set out to publish a magazine for gay and lesbian parents, she had no idea that a few years later, wedding bells would be ringing for them in Massachusetts.

She had a notion, though, that at least three million children were living with two mommies or two daddies. Even though there were no statistics to back up her hunch, she decided to run with intuition.

Darne and partner, Kathleen Weiss, threw caution to the wind and invested their savings, all $250,000 of it, in the first ever parenting magazine for gay men and lesbians.

Some days, Darne looks back and wonders, “What were we thinking? It was such a risk-taking proposition.”

But, in 2004, the risk has proven to be worth the taking. The magazine has received several honors in its short history, and on June 10, Darne will accept yet another award, this one from the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

Just as the magazine has come a long way in a few short years, so has Darne come miles from her beginnings.

The youngest of 11 children growing up in the Bay Area, Darne was fortunate enough to have a mother who recognized early that this child was different from the others.

Darne was free to be different. At 16, she worked on the loading dock of a newspaper, the only girl in a crew of 17.

With no money for college, Darne said, “I managed to get myself into a sales position.”

From there, she worked her way into a senior management position with Diablo Publishing and eventually went to work for a fashion magazine in New York, her dream at the time.

“A year into it, I hated it,” she said. “I didn’t feel like I was making a difference.”

After she got together with Weiss, who had a design background, the magazine idea jelled. The two knew they wanted a family, but there were no resources to which they could turn.

The magazine launched in 2001 with some advertisers hesitant to commit on Darne’s lesbian intuition regarding the number of children in gay homes.

As serendipity would have it, a study was released revealing that there were 3.4 million children living with gay and lesbian parents nationwide.

The advertisers fell in line, realizing there indeed was a market for Darne’s magazine.

And Baby differs from many gay and lesbian publications in the type of ads it accepts.

“We’re the most wholesome ticket,” Darne said. “We accept no tobacco ads, no alcohol ads and no sex ads.”

Because And Baby is a first, Darne said, “We’ve been able to go after a whole new set of advertisers. Enfamil is one of our biggest accounts.”

Although the publication targets gay and lesbian parents, Darne said, she also hears from straight parents who are reading the magazine.

“We have a lot of mainstream subscribers,” she said. “This gives them a look into the GLBT community. This magazine helps create dialogue in a positive way.”

The success of the magazine is leading to a media empire that one day will include TV and books. Darne has even been referred to as the “lesbian Martha.”

Success aside, Darne said, she is most gratified that the idea she and Weiss came up with is making a difference in people’s lives.

“I think I’m on the path of what I’m supposed to do,” she said.

The sales offices for the company are in New York, and the creative shop is in the Bay Area. Darne and Weiss have recently made their home in the Bay Area as well. Weiss runs the creative end, and Darne handles the administrative needs.

It means Darne spends two weeks on the East Coast and two weeks on the West Coast every month.

Just as Darne was certain there was a market for a slick magazine for gay and lesbian parents, she said, he also knows that And Baby and other positive media is creating a better world.

“The world’s going to look very different when our children are grown,” she said.

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