Some parents-to-be are desperate to decide the sex of their new baby. Under current UK law this is not allowed, except in order to avoid gender-linked diseases, such as haemophilia and muscular dystrophy. In this week's Scrubbing Up bioethicist Stephen Wilkinson argues that it's time for the law to change.
For millennia, people have sought to influence the gender of their offspring and there are numerous folk myths about, for example, the effect of different sexual positions or foods on your baby's sex.
Nowadays there are some much more reliable methods, like preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). This involves creating several embryos outside the body and implanting only male or female ones. Another option is sperm sorting, which involves dividing a sperm sample into 'male' and 'female' subgroups.
In some other parts of the world, sex selection is available on demand, provided that you are able and willing to pay for it. In the UK, it is not.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/brETA7
Friday 28 May 2010
Wednesday 26 May 2010
Mothers over 40 in record baby boom
A baby boom among older women has trebled the number giving birth after their 40th birthday. Almost 27,000 babies were born to mothers over 40 last year, figures revealed yesterday. The unprecedented level is nearly three times the total of 20 years ago and up by 50 per cent over the past decade.
Britain now has one of the highest birth rates for older women in the world, with 3.8 per cent of all babies born to mothers over 40. Only Italy has a higher level in Europe. But the trend has led medical experts to warn that older women face greater risks of miscarriages and complications - with calls for the NHS to spend more on specialised services for those expecting children as they approach middle age. More and more Britons are delaying motherhood following the rise in women enjoying well-paid careers, as well as the growing need for both partners in a couple to have an income. An increasing number of live-in relationships also means many young women are uncertain they have the stability they need to raise a child.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/983Mwy
Britain now has one of the highest birth rates for older women in the world, with 3.8 per cent of all babies born to mothers over 40. Only Italy has a higher level in Europe. But the trend has led medical experts to warn that older women face greater risks of miscarriages and complications - with calls for the NHS to spend more on specialised services for those expecting children as they approach middle age. More and more Britons are delaying motherhood following the rise in women enjoying well-paid careers, as well as the growing need for both partners in a couple to have an income. An increasing number of live-in relationships also means many young women are uncertain they have the stability they need to raise a child.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/983Mwy
Tuesday 25 May 2010
Oldest UK women to have IVF cancels treatment
A 59 year-old woman has backed out of IVF (in vitro fertilisation) treatment at the last minute, as she feels the risks at her age are too great. Susan Tollefsen said she was worried after she nearly died following ill-effects from her previous IVF-enabled birth.
'We've basically decided the risks are too great and I'm too old. My advice to older women wanting children is don't risk it', said Mrs Tollefsen, a retired teacher.
Mrs Tollefsen already has a daughter, Freya, conceived through IVF when she was 57. However, she had to travel to a Russian clinic for IVF using a donor egg after being refused treatment in the UK because of her age. A burst ulcer in her stomach after the birth nearly killed her.
'We want a sibling for Freya for when we are not around but we had to seriously reconsider it. The doctors didn't have any problems treating me but I know there are huge risks. I wish I was 35 again but I'm not - and I've got to realise that, however hard it is. I had hoped to set a precedent for older women but that's not going to happen.'
Peter Bowen-Simpkins, medical director of the London Women's Clinic in Harley Street, said: 'I would very strongly agree with the view that in general women over 50 should not have IVF treatments. While in some cases there are compelling reasons, I think it is unlikely we will see anyone else of 59 attempting IVF, and there are a lot of medical reasons they shouldn't.'
Michaela Aston of the pro-life charity Life, which offers counselling for women considering abortion and fertility treatment, said offering IVF to post-menopausal women was a deeply worrying development. 'Women of this age do not conceive naturally for a reason, we should be guided by Mother Nature on this.'
To read more go to http://bit.ly/aWXhGI
'We've basically decided the risks are too great and I'm too old. My advice to older women wanting children is don't risk it', said Mrs Tollefsen, a retired teacher.
Mrs Tollefsen already has a daughter, Freya, conceived through IVF when she was 57. However, she had to travel to a Russian clinic for IVF using a donor egg after being refused treatment in the UK because of her age. A burst ulcer in her stomach after the birth nearly killed her.
'We want a sibling for Freya for when we are not around but we had to seriously reconsider it. The doctors didn't have any problems treating me but I know there are huge risks. I wish I was 35 again but I'm not - and I've got to realise that, however hard it is. I had hoped to set a precedent for older women but that's not going to happen.'
Peter Bowen-Simpkins, medical director of the London Women's Clinic in Harley Street, said: 'I would very strongly agree with the view that in general women over 50 should not have IVF treatments. While in some cases there are compelling reasons, I think it is unlikely we will see anyone else of 59 attempting IVF, and there are a lot of medical reasons they shouldn't.'
Michaela Aston of the pro-life charity Life, which offers counselling for women considering abortion and fertility treatment, said offering IVF to post-menopausal women was a deeply worrying development. 'Women of this age do not conceive naturally for a reason, we should be guided by Mother Nature on this.'
To read more go to http://bit.ly/aWXhGI
Thursday 20 May 2010
Surrogate mum has given away two surrogate babies and is trying for a third, at the age 24
As she lay on her hospital bed breastfeeding her newborn baby, Louise Pollard was overcome with love for the scrap of humanity in her arms.
After all, she'd reached the end of a difficult pregnancy which had seen both her own and her unborn child's life hang in the balance as a result of pre-eclampsia. Despite this scene of maternal bliss, however, just three days later Louise handed Danny over to a couple and drove away - a shattering parting which left her crying for three days and yearning only to see her baby again.
'Afterwards, I sat in my mother's conservatory with my sobs literally racking through my body,' she says. 'I could still smell Danny on my jumper and I desperately wanted to be with him. Giving him up was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.' So what on earth was this young mother doing giving her child away? At 23, Louise had become - for the second time - a surrogate for a childless couple. Having had her first surrogate baby at the age of just 21, Louise is thought to be the youngest surrogate mother in the UK. But her candid descriptions of the emotional challenges she faced highlight just how much surrogacy is a role that is rarely straightforward.
Her experience was particularly unusual because both the surrogate children she's had so far were biologically hers. 'At one point, I was close to driving up to London to see Danny and I wondered if I'd done the right thing in giving him up, but the legal situation we would have then ended up in - and the distress I'd have caused the couple in question - doesn't even bear thinking about,' she says. (In theory, as biological mother, Louise would probably have a right to keep Danny had she wanted to.)
To read more go to http://bit.ly/cu9S5b
After all, she'd reached the end of a difficult pregnancy which had seen both her own and her unborn child's life hang in the balance as a result of pre-eclampsia. Despite this scene of maternal bliss, however, just three days later Louise handed Danny over to a couple and drove away - a shattering parting which left her crying for three days and yearning only to see her baby again.
'Afterwards, I sat in my mother's conservatory with my sobs literally racking through my body,' she says. 'I could still smell Danny on my jumper and I desperately wanted to be with him. Giving him up was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.' So what on earth was this young mother doing giving her child away? At 23, Louise had become - for the second time - a surrogate for a childless couple. Having had her first surrogate baby at the age of just 21, Louise is thought to be the youngest surrogate mother in the UK. But her candid descriptions of the emotional challenges she faced highlight just how much surrogacy is a role that is rarely straightforward.
Her experience was particularly unusual because both the surrogate children she's had so far were biologically hers. 'At one point, I was close to driving up to London to see Danny and I wondered if I'd done the right thing in giving him up, but the legal situation we would have then ended up in - and the distress I'd have caused the couple in question - doesn't even bear thinking about,' she says. (In theory, as biological mother, Louise would probably have a right to keep Danny had she wanted to.)
To read more go to http://bit.ly/cu9S5b
Tuesday 18 May 2010
Options For Preserving Fertility Help Women with Cancer
Young women undergoing cancer treatment have an increasing number of options for preserving their fertility, a leading researcher told attendees today at the 58th Annual Clinical Meeting of The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Thanks to a new medical discipline known as oncofertility, the reproductive outlook for women cancer patients is becoming as good as for men, who long have had the option of banking their sperm, according to Teresa K. Woodruff, PhD, of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, in her lecture "Oncofertility: The Preservation of Fertility Options for Young People with Cancer." A promising new technique for preserving ovarian tissue has the potential to safeguard the future fertility even of very young girls undergoing cancer treatment, she said.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/akmVe8
Thanks to a new medical discipline known as oncofertility, the reproductive outlook for women cancer patients is becoming as good as for men, who long have had the option of banking their sperm, according to Teresa K. Woodruff, PhD, of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, in her lecture "Oncofertility: The Preservation of Fertility Options for Young People with Cancer." A promising new technique for preserving ovarian tissue has the potential to safeguard the future fertility even of very young girls undergoing cancer treatment, she said.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/akmVe8
Sunday 16 May 2010
Sex to make babies may become redundant as IVF becomes the norm
Sex may become redundant as a method of conceiving babies as couples routinely turn to IVF, scientists have predicted. They say thirtysomethings will increasingly rely on artificial methods of fertilisation because natural human reproduction is 'fairly inefficient'. It means that in future, sex will be nothing more than a leisure activity - hammering a further nail into the Christian idea that the role of sex is to produce children.
If the experts are right, it means the sci-fi world of books such as Brave New World, in which all children are born in 'hatcheries', could soon be a step closer to reality. And it raises further ethical questions over whether greater use of IVF will lead to eugenics, with couples screening out characteristics they regard as undesirable.
The startling new vision of the future is the brainchild of John Yovich, a veterinary doctor from Murdoch University in Australia. He believes IVF has the potential to ease the pressure on couples who have delayed having children to their thirties or forties to pursue a career, because in the future going for the test tube option will be much more effective than trying for a baby naturally.
Even young adults have no more than a one-in-four chance every month of reproducing through sex, and among the over 35s, this falls to one in 10. This compares to a near 100 per cent success rate which he believes will be possible with IVF within 10 years. Dr Yovich, co-author of a new report in the journal Reproductive BioMedicine, said: 'We are not quite at that stage yet, but that is where we're heading. Natural human reproduction is at best a fairly inefficient process. 'Within the next five to 10 years, couples approaching 40 will assess the IVF industry first when they want to have a baby.'
The vet, based his hunch on the fact that in cattle, IVF works almost 100 per cent of the time. He said there was no reason that success rate could not be replicated in humans very soon. His co-author, Australian vet Gabor Vajta, said test-tube embryo production in cattle was 100 times more efficient than natural means. He said there was no reason why IVF in humans should not become 100 times more efficient than natural sex.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/cO2L9e
If the experts are right, it means the sci-fi world of books such as Brave New World, in which all children are born in 'hatcheries', could soon be a step closer to reality. And it raises further ethical questions over whether greater use of IVF will lead to eugenics, with couples screening out characteristics they regard as undesirable.
The startling new vision of the future is the brainchild of John Yovich, a veterinary doctor from Murdoch University in Australia. He believes IVF has the potential to ease the pressure on couples who have delayed having children to their thirties or forties to pursue a career, because in the future going for the test tube option will be much more effective than trying for a baby naturally.
Even young adults have no more than a one-in-four chance every month of reproducing through sex, and among the over 35s, this falls to one in 10. This compares to a near 100 per cent success rate which he believes will be possible with IVF within 10 years. Dr Yovich, co-author of a new report in the journal Reproductive BioMedicine, said: 'We are not quite at that stage yet, but that is where we're heading. Natural human reproduction is at best a fairly inefficient process. 'Within the next five to 10 years, couples approaching 40 will assess the IVF industry first when they want to have a baby.'
The vet, based his hunch on the fact that in cattle, IVF works almost 100 per cent of the time. He said there was no reason that success rate could not be replicated in humans very soon. His co-author, Australian vet Gabor Vajta, said test-tube embryo production in cattle was 100 times more efficient than natural means. He said there was no reason why IVF in humans should not become 100 times more efficient than natural sex.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/cO2L9e
Friday 14 May 2010
Lesbian couple 'forced out of church for holding hands in the pews'
A lesbian couple claim they were forced out of their church after they were spotted holding hands during a service. Kersten Pegden and Nina Lawrence said that other members of the congregation at St Nicholas Anglican church in Corfe Mullen, Dorset, thought their behaviour was 'overtly sexual'. They said other couples within the congregation held hands and they felt it was their sexuality that had influenced the complaints.
Miss Pegden, 38, had attended the church for many years. She separated from her husband last September and is now going through a divorce. She began a relationship with Miss Lawrence , 31, last November but the new relationship had split the congregation of mainly elderly people, Miss Pegden said.
Miss Pegden has told how her daughter Emily, 12. has left the church choir and her son Elliot, 14, is no longer a server at the church that attracts up to 70 worshippers each Sunday.
She said: 'The vicar, who is a woman, wanted to know the details about my divorce, how long it was going to be, and the fact it had dragged on too long.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/dsRfqF
Miss Pegden, 38, had attended the church for many years. She separated from her husband last September and is now going through a divorce. She began a relationship with Miss Lawrence , 31, last November but the new relationship had split the congregation of mainly elderly people, Miss Pegden said.
Miss Pegden has told how her daughter Emily, 12. has left the church choir and her son Elliot, 14, is no longer a server at the church that attracts up to 70 worshippers each Sunday.
She said: 'The vicar, who is a woman, wanted to know the details about my divorce, how long it was going to be, and the fact it had dragged on too long.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/dsRfqF
Wednesday 12 May 2010
'Majority of pregnant women not getting enough vitamin D' puts unborn children at risk
Pregnant woman are not getting enough vitamin D, according to new research.
While taking prenatal vitamins does raise vitamin D levels in mothers-to-be, the study suggested higher doses are needed for many women.
Study author Professor Adit Ginde, from the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, said: 'We already know vitamin D is important for bone health of the mother and infant, but we are just starting to scratch the surface about the many potential health benefits of vitamin D during pregnancy.'
The study, to be published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, found 70 per cent of pregnant women in the U.S had insufficient levels of Vitamin D.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/dBjLsh
While taking prenatal vitamins does raise vitamin D levels in mothers-to-be, the study suggested higher doses are needed for many women.
Study author Professor Adit Ginde, from the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, said: 'We already know vitamin D is important for bone health of the mother and infant, but we are just starting to scratch the surface about the many potential health benefits of vitamin D during pregnancy.'
The study, to be published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, found 70 per cent of pregnant women in the U.S had insufficient levels of Vitamin D.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/dBjLsh
Monday 10 May 2010
IVF mistake - Accidental surrogate hands over baby
An American woman who was accidentally impregnated with another couple's embryo has handed the baby over to its biological parents.
Carolyn Savage gave birth to a beautiful baby boy at Mercy St Vincent Medical Centre in Toledo, but he wasn't hers. Due to a mix up at the fertility clinic, Mrs Savage had been implanted with an embryo belonging to Shannon and Paul Morell.
Given the choice of terminating the pregnancy or handing the baby over once he was born, she chose to carry the child to term. Mrs Morell, whose maiden name was also Savage, had six embryos frozen after giving birth to twins. But when they were ready to try for a third child they got an urgent call from their fertility doctor, the New York Post reports.
"I'm so sorry, Shannon, but there's been a terrible incident in our lab," he said. "Your embryos have thawed." "Your embryos were transferred to another woman."
To read more go to http://bit.ly/bxXMj3
Carolyn Savage gave birth to a beautiful baby boy at Mercy St Vincent Medical Centre in Toledo, but he wasn't hers. Due to a mix up at the fertility clinic, Mrs Savage had been implanted with an embryo belonging to Shannon and Paul Morell.
Given the choice of terminating the pregnancy or handing the baby over once he was born, she chose to carry the child to term. Mrs Morell, whose maiden name was also Savage, had six embryos frozen after giving birth to twins. But when they were ready to try for a third child they got an urgent call from their fertility doctor, the New York Post reports.
"I'm so sorry, Shannon, but there's been a terrible incident in our lab," he said. "Your embryos have thawed." "Your embryos were transferred to another woman."
To read more go to http://bit.ly/bxXMj3
Saturday 8 May 2010
'Bringing up Baby' - Birth certificates naming two dads
Birth certificates naming two gay dads are now a reality in the UK. Natalie Gamble and Louisa Ghevaert founding partners of one of UK's leading specialist fertility law firms. Gamble & Ghevaert explain these groundbreaking legal changes.
There is definately an art to building a family as a gay man. Times are changing, and the UK's new gay-friendly surrogacy laws are just one example of the options now available.
As of 6 April 2010, an important legal change now enables gay men to apply for a court order making them the joint legal parents if they have a child through surrogacy. The court will trigger the re-issue of their surrogate child's birth certificate so that it names them both as the parents.
It means that gay dads who have a child through surrogacy can now use the UK's surrogacy laws to become full and equal legal parents-and get a birth certificate to prove it.
There is definately an art to building a family as a gay man. Times are changing, and the UK's new gay-friendly surrogacy laws are just one example of the options now available.
As of 6 April 2010, an important legal change now enables gay men to apply for a court order making them the joint legal parents if they have a child through surrogacy. The court will trigger the re-issue of their surrogate child's birth certificate so that it names them both as the parents.
It means that gay dads who have a child through surrogacy can now use the UK's surrogacy laws to become full and equal legal parents-and get a birth certificate to prove it.
Friday 7 May 2010
US online reality series 'A Conception Story'
The New York Times on Sunday examined TLC's new Web-only reality series "A Conception Story," which was pitched to the network by First Response, a brand of fertility, ovulation and pregnancy test kits. The series tracks six women and their partners as they try to conceive, with updates unfolding "practically in real time," according to the Times. Although TLC, a unit of Discovery Communications, has long targeted viewers who have an interest in pregnancy- and family-related reality shows, the Web series is "decidedly different" in that the idea came from an advertiser, the Times reports.
Each participant in the series received several First Response testing kits and a digital video camera to document their lives and progress over the next seven months. The women send the footage to TLC producers, who edit the videos and post them online within a few days. Each participant also will contribute to a blog on the show's Web site. First Response guided TLC in selecting the participants, and fertility specialist Peter Ahlering, a spokesperson for First Response, appears in informational videos on the site.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/dnzlKI
Each participant in the series received several First Response testing kits and a digital video camera to document their lives and progress over the next seven months. The women send the footage to TLC producers, who edit the videos and post them online within a few days. Each participant also will contribute to a blog on the show's Web site. First Response guided TLC in selecting the participants, and fertility specialist Peter Ahlering, a spokesperson for First Response, appears in informational videos on the site.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/dnzlKI
Tuesday 4 May 2010
The woman boss who is selling her eggs to pay off student debt
A businesswoman has put her eggs up for sale on the internet to help repay her student loans.
Marje Khan posted her details on the classified ads website Gumtree and hopes a couple will pay her £4,500 for the donation.
The 28-year-old accounts manager came up with the idea after reading in a magazine how much donors can earn.
She did not realise that in Britain it is illegal to be paid for donating eggs.
The procedure can also be life-threatening for the woman and risks leaving her infertile.
But critics claim advertising eggs for sale is becoming more widespread despite the regulations, as the internet is too hard to regulate.
They are concerned many are exploiting a loophole which states that egg donors are allowed to claim 'reasonable' expenses - but a reasonable amount is not stipulated in law.
Miss Khan, from South-West London, earns £40,000 a year but ran up her debts after studying for degrees in marketing and economics. She was born in Sweden and grew up in Stockholm. Her father was an interior designer father and her mother a teacher.
She came to Britain ten years ago to learn English and to study at Brunel University in West London. But although her parents helped pay some of her fees, after five years of studying she has £50,000 of student loans of pay off.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/9XNsgl
Marje Khan posted her details on the classified ads website Gumtree and hopes a couple will pay her £4,500 for the donation.
The 28-year-old accounts manager came up with the idea after reading in a magazine how much donors can earn.
She did not realise that in Britain it is illegal to be paid for donating eggs.
The procedure can also be life-threatening for the woman and risks leaving her infertile.
But critics claim advertising eggs for sale is becoming more widespread despite the regulations, as the internet is too hard to regulate.
They are concerned many are exploiting a loophole which states that egg donors are allowed to claim 'reasonable' expenses - but a reasonable amount is not stipulated in law.
Miss Khan, from South-West London, earns £40,000 a year but ran up her debts after studying for degrees in marketing and economics. She was born in Sweden and grew up in Stockholm. Her father was an interior designer father and her mother a teacher.
She came to Britain ten years ago to learn English and to study at Brunel University in West London. But although her parents helped pay some of her fees, after five years of studying she has £50,000 of student loans of pay off.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/9XNsgl
Sunday 2 May 2010
Single fathers raising families alone
The struggles facing single mothers are well documented, but what of men left to raise families alone? The Telegraph talks to four single fathers.
One day, which, at first, seemed like any other, Bob Greig, 45, came home from work to discover that his wife of seven years had left him.
'Crazy though it sounds, I had no idea that anything was wrong,' he says. 'Yes, we'd been arguing a bit, but nothing major. Now here I was, alone with my two young daughters and our world turned upside-down. I was devastated.'
Greig admits that the first few days were 'torturous', while he tried to make sense of his situation. Forced to put his job as a property manager on hold, Greig took over the running of his home. 'Up until that point my wife had taken care of the girls and now suddenly it was all down to me. To say it was traumatic was an understatement.'
Six years later and Greig's life has changed irrevocably. He's since had to give up his job, and most of his day is spent knuckling down to the treadmill of single parenthood, while dealing with his daughters' confused emotions.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/aaoDYt
One day, which, at first, seemed like any other, Bob Greig, 45, came home from work to discover that his wife of seven years had left him.
'Crazy though it sounds, I had no idea that anything was wrong,' he says. 'Yes, we'd been arguing a bit, but nothing major. Now here I was, alone with my two young daughters and our world turned upside-down. I was devastated.'
Greig admits that the first few days were 'torturous', while he tried to make sense of his situation. Forced to put his job as a property manager on hold, Greig took over the running of his home. 'Up until that point my wife had taken care of the girls and now suddenly it was all down to me. To say it was traumatic was an understatement.'
Six years later and Greig's life has changed irrevocably. He's since had to give up his job, and most of his day is spent knuckling down to the treadmill of single parenthood, while dealing with his daughters' confused emotions.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/aaoDYt
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