Born in Rochester, New York, Darren Spedale moved frequently during his formative years, and by age 18 he had lived in five cities in four states. He credits this experience with developing his interest in comparative law, both nationally and internationally.

Mr. Spedale received his bachelor's degree from Duke University, where he graduated magna cum laude with high honors in public policy studies. While at Duke, he wrote an honors thesis on employee domestic partnership benefits. At the time, few U.S. employers offered such benefits, and one of their main concerns was the unknown effect of recognizing same-sex partnerships on their businesses. Mr. Spedale's cost-benefit analysis of the extension of domestic partnership benefits to employees was later used by Duke faculty and staff to help secure domestic partnership benefits at Duke. This research also increased his interest in learning more about the effects of same-sex unions, both on the couples themselves and on the society in which they live.

In 1996, Mr. Spedale was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research on the effects of same-sex marriage (in the form of registered partnerships) in Scandinavia. He simultaneously enrolled at the University of Copenhagen's Law School where he took course work in both Scandinavian and European Union law. His empirical research on Scandinavian registered partnerships over the next two years was broad in scope, including archival research as well as interviews with politicians, activists, sociologists and religious leaders, among others. He also conducted in-depth interviews with two dozen sets of same-sex couples of diverse backgrounds from around Denmark who had entered into registered partnerships. Mr. Spedale's original 1999 manuscript from this research, "Nordic Bliss: The Danish Experience with 'Gay Marriage'" was updated and used in large part as the basis for the materials in this book.

Mr. Spedale has lectured at many universities on the development and results of legal unions in Scandinavia, and has authored various articles on the implications of the Scandinavian experience for same-sex marriage in the United States. (For example, click here for a representative article that appeared in Honolulu's main newspaper during the Hawaii debates on same-sex marriage in the aftermath of Baehr v. Lewin.)

Upon returning to the United States in 1998, Mr. Spedale worked briefly in the office of Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN) as a legislative aide, where he was, among other things, responsible for finding Senate co-sponsors for Wellstone's domestic partnership legislation, which would extend the federal benefits offered to spouses of federal employees to same-sex partners as well. Thereafter, during the internet boom, Mr. Spedale spent two years working for a technology-based start-up as vice-president of marketing before returning to graduate school.

Mr. Spedale received his JD and MBA degrees at Stanford Law School and Stanford Graduate School of Business, respectively. He thereafter became a corporate attorney with the global law firm of White & Case in their New York office. While at White & Case, he continued his work on same-sex marriage through his pro bono activities, including work for the non-profit organization Freedom to Marry.

Mr. Spedale is currently working on a new business venture. He resides in New York City.