Manchester Pride's Lifetyle Expo started today with great success, thankfully the rain did not dampen any spirits, with hundreds of visitors attending the variety of stalls. Pride Angel were happy to be one of those stalls and gave advice to those interested in becoming parents through donor conception or co-parenting.
Erika and Karen the co-founders of Pride Angel said 'We are so happy by the positive response we are getting about this valuable service, there are alot of really genuine people coming forward to offer support by donating sperm or eggs to help others'
To read more go to http://bit.ly/9kCers
Monday 30 August 2010
Thursday 26 August 2010
Shouldn't donors donate for 'altruism' rather than reward?
Many men and women who long for a baby - but are beset by fertility problems - will read with envy the news that Samantha Cameron has given birth to a baby girl and say a silent prayer that they too will be so blessed.
Yet the fact remains that, in many cases, their prayers will not be answered because of a chronic shortage in the number of people willing to donate eggs or sperm to help them conceive.
This week's announcement that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) will review its policy on paying sperm and egg donors raises, yet again, the issue of how we reconcile questions of need, knowledge and ethics.
In my view, the review is no bad thing. Sometimes we have to go back to the drawing board, if only to decide the first design was the best one. I firmly believe we should not pay people to be donors.
Let's be clear what this is about. One in seven couples has fertility problems, causing untold heartache. They have planned the nursery in their dreams and watched their friends completing their lives with children, but have to face the news that it won't be so easy - if at all possible - for them.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/bEA9vt
Yet the fact remains that, in many cases, their prayers will not be answered because of a chronic shortage in the number of people willing to donate eggs or sperm to help them conceive.
This week's announcement that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) will review its policy on paying sperm and egg donors raises, yet again, the issue of how we reconcile questions of need, knowledge and ethics.
In my view, the review is no bad thing. Sometimes we have to go back to the drawing board, if only to decide the first design was the best one. I firmly believe we should not pay people to be donors.
Let's be clear what this is about. One in seven couples has fertility problems, causing untold heartache. They have planned the nursery in their dreams and watched their friends completing their lives with children, but have to face the news that it won't be so easy - if at all possible - for them.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/bEA9vt
Tuesday 24 August 2010
Egg donors could get up to £800 in payments
Currently the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (HFEA) imposes a £250 cap on payments so as to avoid commercialising the procedure.
But the low payment is thought to be behind a shortage in egg and sperm donation which is driving infertile women and men to overseas – often unregulated – clinics, according to research.
Now the HFEA is considering adopting the Spanish system which would see the payment cap lifted to £800.
"We want to review egg donation," Professor Lisa Jardine, the chair of the HFEA told the Sunday Times.
"We are suggesting moving closer to the Spanish system. But there is no suggestion of adopting the US model where a good-looking girl with a degree can get $30,000 (£19,000) for her eggs."
A report will go to the HFEA's executive next month, setting out the proposed higher payments.
It will then be put out to public consultation.
Fertility clinics are barred from offering straight payments for egg or sperm donation.
Even though egg donors can face invasive procedures and some health risks, they are entitled to a maximum "compensation"of only £250 for loss of earnings, plus expenses.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/dmDUNQ
But the low payment is thought to be behind a shortage in egg and sperm donation which is driving infertile women and men to overseas – often unregulated – clinics, according to research.
Now the HFEA is considering adopting the Spanish system which would see the payment cap lifted to £800.
"We want to review egg donation," Professor Lisa Jardine, the chair of the HFEA told the Sunday Times.
"We are suggesting moving closer to the Spanish system. But there is no suggestion of adopting the US model where a good-looking girl with a degree can get $30,000 (£19,000) for her eggs."
A report will go to the HFEA's executive next month, setting out the proposed higher payments.
It will then be put out to public consultation.
Fertility clinics are barred from offering straight payments for egg or sperm donation.
Even though egg donors can face invasive procedures and some health risks, they are entitled to a maximum "compensation"of only £250 for loss of earnings, plus expenses.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/dmDUNQ
Sunday 22 August 2010
Surrogacy: We went from nought to three children in a year
After her hopes of getting pregnant were crushed, Caroline Van Den Heever turned to surrogacy to keep alive her dream of starting a family
My house is full of noise and activity – shouting, laughter and colourful paintings pinned to the noticeboard. Not so long ago, it was deathly quiet and I hated it. That was before my husband Jan and I had our three amazing children, born through surrogacy and egg donation in a journey that took us across the world and to the limits of our emotions.
The number of babies born to surrogates is relatively small, given the thousands of women desperate to become mothers. ‘Each year, there are just 50 to 70 surrogate pregnancies in the UK,’ says Sabreena Mahroof, secretary of Surrogacy UK. ‘Others are undergone by women abroad for couples in the UK: we don’t know how many live births those amount to, but it is thought there are currently about 750 surrogate children in the UK.’ Surrogacy, where another woman carries the baby for the one who will become its mother, is used when a medical condition makes it impossible or dangerous to get pregnant and give birth, such as after repeated IVF failure, or cancer treatment, or because of a heart condition. ‘Surrogacy is the last resort,’ says Sabreena. ‘You have to prove through your GP that you have tried everything else, because we can’t risk a surrogate’s life by putting her through a pregnancy unnecessarily.’
to read more go to
My house is full of noise and activity – shouting, laughter and colourful paintings pinned to the noticeboard. Not so long ago, it was deathly quiet and I hated it. That was before my husband Jan and I had our three amazing children, born through surrogacy and egg donation in a journey that took us across the world and to the limits of our emotions.
The number of babies born to surrogates is relatively small, given the thousands of women desperate to become mothers. ‘Each year, there are just 50 to 70 surrogate pregnancies in the UK,’ says Sabreena Mahroof, secretary of Surrogacy UK. ‘Others are undergone by women abroad for couples in the UK: we don’t know how many live births those amount to, but it is thought there are currently about 750 surrogate children in the UK.’ Surrogacy, where another woman carries the baby for the one who will become its mother, is used when a medical condition makes it impossible or dangerous to get pregnant and give birth, such as after repeated IVF failure, or cancer treatment, or because of a heart condition. ‘Surrogacy is the last resort,’ says Sabreena. ‘You have to prove through your GP that you have tried everything else, because we can’t risk a surrogate’s life by putting her through a pregnancy unnecessarily.’
to read more go to
Friday 20 August 2010
Manchester Pride 2010 begins with Fringe festival
Manchester Pride 2010 began today with a Fringe festival of comedy, art, theatre and sport.
More than 40 events will be held in 20 venues ahead of the Big Weekend, which starts next Friday.
The Big Weekend will feature acts such as Kelis, Beverly Knight and Belinda Carlisle and includes the annual pride march through the city centre.
Coronation Street cast and crew will mark the soap's 50th birthday at the parade.
The festival will close on Bank Holiday Monday with a candlelit vigil at Sackville Park.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/dpWNsU
More than 40 events will be held in 20 venues ahead of the Big Weekend, which starts next Friday.
The Big Weekend will feature acts such as Kelis, Beverly Knight and Belinda Carlisle and includes the annual pride march through the city centre.
Coronation Street cast and crew will mark the soap's 50th birthday at the parade.
The festival will close on Bank Holiday Monday with a candlelit vigil at Sackville Park.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/dpWNsU
Wednesday 18 August 2010
Sisters are doing it for themselves: Fertility Road Feature
Having a child is the most natural thing in the world. In an ideal scenario, it’s a situation born of love, commitment and the desire to procreate. But what if the usual trappings of that romantic impulse to give life aren’t available to you?
To put it into context, The UK Adoption and Children Act 2002 gave same-sex couples the right to jointly adopt children, and in the same year the English Court of Appeal judged that a same-sex couple could be seen to be “living together as husband and wife”.
The Civil Partnership Act was passed in 2004 and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Act 1990 was revised in2008. The new HFE Act gives lesbian couples who conceive using licensed donor sperm increased legal recognition in law, replacing the 1990 wording of “father” with “supportive parenting”. Under the new act, if a woman is in a civil partnership at the time of the treatment, then “the other party to the civil partnership is to be treated as a parent of the child”. If a woman is not in a civil partnership at the time she obtains donor sperm but has a partner who gives consent to the treatment, the non-birth mother is automatically treated as a parent of the child.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/a1oB2h
To put it into context, The UK Adoption and Children Act 2002 gave same-sex couples the right to jointly adopt children, and in the same year the English Court of Appeal judged that a same-sex couple could be seen to be “living together as husband and wife”.
The Civil Partnership Act was passed in 2004 and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Act 1990 was revised in2008. The new HFE Act gives lesbian couples who conceive using licensed donor sperm increased legal recognition in law, replacing the 1990 wording of “father” with “supportive parenting”. Under the new act, if a woman is in a civil partnership at the time of the treatment, then “the other party to the civil partnership is to be treated as a parent of the child”. If a woman is not in a civil partnership at the time she obtains donor sperm but has a partner who gives consent to the treatment, the non-birth mother is automatically treated as a parent of the child.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/a1oB2h
Monday 16 August 2010
Marriage is the gold standard for gay couples
It's a common refrain of politicians (and some lobby groups) to say that while they are not against equal civil marriage, it is not clear how many gay people actually want it.
A poll by pinknews.co.uk - conducted over two days with almost 800 responses – shows otherwise. LGBT people demand marriage equality.
They see Argentina, Mexico City and other countries in Europe making the move and question why the UK – a supposed world leader on LGBT rights – hasn't yet got that far.
PinkNews.co.uk has said time and again that civil partnerships were an excellent and much-needed addition to UK law, giving gay couples access to the same rights and benefits as heterosexual couples, plus protection and dignity. However, our readers don't believe in 'separate but equal'.
Things are changing fast and they need to. We have a Tory-led government which has said it will consider the case for equal marriage, while the majority (if not all) of the Labour leadership contenders support changing the law. Next month, the Liberal Democrat party is expected to pass a motion cementing its pro-gay marriage policy.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/cdh20i
A poll by pinknews.co.uk - conducted over two days with almost 800 responses – shows otherwise. LGBT people demand marriage equality.
They see Argentina, Mexico City and other countries in Europe making the move and question why the UK – a supposed world leader on LGBT rights – hasn't yet got that far.
PinkNews.co.uk has said time and again that civil partnerships were an excellent and much-needed addition to UK law, giving gay couples access to the same rights and benefits as heterosexual couples, plus protection and dignity. However, our readers don't believe in 'separate but equal'.
Things are changing fast and they need to. We have a Tory-led government which has said it will consider the case for equal marriage, while the majority (if not all) of the Labour leadership contenders support changing the law. Next month, the Liberal Democrat party is expected to pass a motion cementing its pro-gay marriage policy.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/cdh20i
Saturday 14 August 2010
Independent's Pink List honours Natalie Gamble in top 101
Pride Angel is delighted that Natalie Gamble from Gamble&Ghevaert has been named in the Independent on Sunday’s Pink List 2010, the paper’s renowned annual review of the 101 most influential gay and lesbian people in Britain. At number 88, Natalie is recognised as a “pioneer of fertility law” who was “heavily involved in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 and nominated in 2008 as Stonewall’s Hero of the Year”.
The only practising lawyer named, Natalie is ranked alongside British gays and lesbians at the very top of a broad range of professions. The Pink List 2010 includes politicians Lord Mandelson and Deputy Lib Dem leader Simon Hughes, judges Lord Justice Etherton and Sir Adrian Fulford, former head of the Law Society Dame Janet Paraskeva, business leaders Lord Black (the Telegraph), Sir Michael Bishop (BMI) and Dawn Airey (CEO of Channel 5), theatre directors Sir Nicholas Hytner and Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Director of the British Museum Neil MacGregor, Radio 4 broadcaster Evan Davis, poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, Turner Prize winning painter Sir Howard Hodgkin, Rabbi Lionel Blue, authors Sarah Waters and Philip Hensher, fashion designers Christopher Bailey and John Galliano, actors John Barrowman, Fiona Shaw and Simon Russell Beale, and celebrities Stephen Fry, Sue Perkins, Matt Lucas, Gok Wan, Alan Carr, Will Young and Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills. The number one spot - balanced fairly between the sexes - is rightly shared by leading business guru Mary Portas and courageous rugby player Gareth Thomas.
To read more go to
The only practising lawyer named, Natalie is ranked alongside British gays and lesbians at the very top of a broad range of professions. The Pink List 2010 includes politicians Lord Mandelson and Deputy Lib Dem leader Simon Hughes, judges Lord Justice Etherton and Sir Adrian Fulford, former head of the Law Society Dame Janet Paraskeva, business leaders Lord Black (the Telegraph), Sir Michael Bishop (BMI) and Dawn Airey (CEO of Channel 5), theatre directors Sir Nicholas Hytner and Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Director of the British Museum Neil MacGregor, Radio 4 broadcaster Evan Davis, poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, Turner Prize winning painter Sir Howard Hodgkin, Rabbi Lionel Blue, authors Sarah Waters and Philip Hensher, fashion designers Christopher Bailey and John Galliano, actors John Barrowman, Fiona Shaw and Simon Russell Beale, and celebrities Stephen Fry, Sue Perkins, Matt Lucas, Gok Wan, Alan Carr, Will Young and Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills. The number one spot - balanced fairly between the sexes - is rightly shared by leading business guru Mary Portas and courageous rugby player Gareth Thomas.
To read more go to
Friday 13 August 2010
Stress DOES reduce your chances of getting pregnant
High stress levels can damage a woman's chances of getting pregnant, researchers warn. Those who are anxious are 12 per cent less likely to conceive during their fertile time than those who stay calm. It is the first proof that stress makes it less likely a woman will fall pregnant, despite long-standing anecdotal evidence that being relaxed can improve the chances.
Although the fall in success rates appears small, experts claim it can make a big difference to older women trying to have a baby when their fertility is naturally declining because of age.
In a study at Oxford University and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, blood levels of a marker for a stress hormone called alphaamylase were consistently higher in women who had trouble conceiving.
Dr Cecilia Pyper, from the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University, said: 'This is the first study to find that a biological measure of stress is associated with a woman's chances of becoming pregnant-that month.
To read more go to
Although the fall in success rates appears small, experts claim it can make a big difference to older women trying to have a baby when their fertility is naturally declining because of age.
In a study at Oxford University and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, blood levels of a marker for a stress hormone called alphaamylase were consistently higher in women who had trouble conceiving.
Dr Cecilia Pyper, from the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University, said: 'This is the first study to find that a biological measure of stress is associated with a woman's chances of becoming pregnant-that month.
To read more go to
Tuesday 10 August 2010
Jennifer Aniston says 'women no longer need a man in order to have a child.'
In her latest film, The Switch, the 41-year-old actress plays a single woman who uses a sperm donor to get pregnant.
"Women are realising it more and more - knowing that they don't have to settle with a man just to have that child," Aniston said.
"Times have changed and what is amazing is that we do have so many options these days, as opposed to our parents' days when you can't have children because you have waited too long.
"The point of the movie is: what is it that defines a family? It isn't necessarily the traditional mother, father, two children and a dog named Spot.
"Love is love and family is what is around you and who is in your immediate sphere. That is what I love about this movie. It is saying it is not the traditional sort of stereotype of what we have been taught as a society of what family is."
To read more go to
"Women are realising it more and more - knowing that they don't have to settle with a man just to have that child," Aniston said.
"Times have changed and what is amazing is that we do have so many options these days, as opposed to our parents' days when you can't have children because you have waited too long.
"The point of the movie is: what is it that defines a family? It isn't necessarily the traditional mother, father, two children and a dog named Spot.
"Love is love and family is what is around you and who is in your immediate sphere. That is what I love about this movie. It is saying it is not the traditional sort of stereotype of what we have been taught as a society of what family is."
To read more go to
Sunday 8 August 2010
Jennifer Aniston: searches for a sperm donor in her new movie 'The Switch'
Jennifer Aniston plays a wannabe mother who undergoes artificial insemination, using what she believes is the perfect donor's sperm, to get pregnant.
And when it comes to off screen it seems Aniston would allow life to imitate art, insisting that if she ever went that route she too would definitely 'wanna know the guy'.
Aniston revealed her preference during an appearance on Jay Leno's Tonight Show, in Los Angeles.
In The Switch, Aniston plays singleton Kassie who is desperate to have a baby. Ignoring the objections of her best friend, Wally (played by Jason Bateman) she decides to go it alone.
Kassie chooses a handsome and charming donor but before she can complete the act of insemination, unbeknown to her, a drunk Wally swaps the sperm for his own.
The switch isn’t discovered until seven years later when he finally meets her precocious, though slightly neurotic, son.
Aniston has talked about her desire to be a mother one day, telling Entertainment Weekly 'I'm on the verge of it in some way...it's something I long for.'
To read more go to http://bit.ly/crxjZN
And when it comes to off screen it seems Aniston would allow life to imitate art, insisting that if she ever went that route she too would definitely 'wanna know the guy'.
Aniston revealed her preference during an appearance on Jay Leno's Tonight Show, in Los Angeles.
In The Switch, Aniston plays singleton Kassie who is desperate to have a baby. Ignoring the objections of her best friend, Wally (played by Jason Bateman) she decides to go it alone.
Kassie chooses a handsome and charming donor but before she can complete the act of insemination, unbeknown to her, a drunk Wally swaps the sperm for his own.
The switch isn’t discovered until seven years later when he finally meets her precocious, though slightly neurotic, son.
Aniston has talked about her desire to be a mother one day, telling Entertainment Weekly 'I'm on the verge of it in some way...it's something I long for.'
To read more go to http://bit.ly/crxjZN
Friday 6 August 2010
Women warned: Don't delay the next try following a miscarriage
After the trauma of a miscarriage many women take a break to recover before they begin to try again for a baby.
But they may in fact be increasing their risk of having another pregnancy with complications, research has found. Women who conceive within six months of a miscarriage have the best chance of a healthy pregnancy with the lowest likelihood of another miscarriage, according to the British study. The team from Aberdeen University analysed data for almost 31,000 women who had suffered a miscarriage and fallen pregnant again.
Those who conceived within six months after a miscarriage were 44 per cent less likely to have a second one than those who had an interval of six to 12 months before falling pregnant again.
They were also 52 per cent less likely to have an ectopic pregnancy - where the foetus lodges in a fallopian tube and has to be removed - or a termination.
The study found women who conceived within six months were 10 per cent less likely to need a Caesarean or to have a premature baby, and 16 per cent less likely to have a low birthweight baby.
Women with an interval of more than two years were around twice as likely to have an ectopic second pregnancy or a termination. The study, published online in the British Medical Journal, concludes: 'Women who conceive within six months of an initial miscarriage have the best reproductive outcomes and lowest complication rates in a subsequent pregnancy.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/aGO9KQ
But they may in fact be increasing their risk of having another pregnancy with complications, research has found. Women who conceive within six months of a miscarriage have the best chance of a healthy pregnancy with the lowest likelihood of another miscarriage, according to the British study. The team from Aberdeen University analysed data for almost 31,000 women who had suffered a miscarriage and fallen pregnant again.
Those who conceived within six months after a miscarriage were 44 per cent less likely to have a second one than those who had an interval of six to 12 months before falling pregnant again.
They were also 52 per cent less likely to have an ectopic pregnancy - where the foetus lodges in a fallopian tube and has to be removed - or a termination.
The study found women who conceived within six months were 10 per cent less likely to need a Caesarean or to have a premature baby, and 16 per cent less likely to have a low birthweight baby.
Women with an interval of more than two years were around twice as likely to have an ectopic second pregnancy or a termination. The study, published online in the British Medical Journal, concludes: 'Women who conceive within six months of an initial miscarriage have the best reproductive outcomes and lowest complication rates in a subsequent pregnancy.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/aGO9KQ
Thursday 5 August 2010
Woman gives birth after four miscarriages by getting a 'Bionic' cervix
A lawyer who struggled to have a baby for seven years has now given birth to a healthy little girl after being fitted with a 'bionic' cervix. Janett Walker, 41, suffered four miscarriages and lost a premature baby because her cervix was too weak to support an unborn baby.
Doctors 'clamped' the neck of her uterus using a synthetic material called mersilene, to stop a foetus from falling through.
The operation allowed the lawyer to carry her baby Ainka, meaning 'cherished one' to 37 weeks before she gave birth by Caesarean section in June. Janett, who gave birth at Liverpool Women's Hospital, said: 'I just can't believe it. I wake up in the morning sometimes and think my beautiful baby was a dream, but there she is asleep in her cot.
'If I hadn't been fitted with the bionic cervix, I would never have been able to to have a child.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/cr0MOD
Doctors 'clamped' the neck of her uterus using a synthetic material called mersilene, to stop a foetus from falling through.
The operation allowed the lawyer to carry her baby Ainka, meaning 'cherished one' to 37 weeks before she gave birth by Caesarean section in June. Janett, who gave birth at Liverpool Women's Hospital, said: 'I just can't believe it. I wake up in the morning sometimes and think my beautiful baby was a dream, but there she is asleep in her cot.
'If I hadn't been fitted with the bionic cervix, I would never have been able to to have a child.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/cr0MOD
Monday 2 August 2010
Britains 'Wackiest' Baby names revealed
Researchers found a growing number of parents appeared to have ditched traditional names in favour of the more bizarre monikers such as Shy, Unity and Bean.
The survey, for a parenting group, found that more than one in three parents now claimed their child had an unusual name. Experts said many new parents were being influenced by celebrities who had given their children more unusual names.
But they warned parents to “think very carefully” before embarking on unusual names because it could affect their child’s psychology.
The poll found three quarters of people who had given their child a traditional name believed more alternative parents were paving the way for their child to be bullied.
They added that those who had chosen more wacky names were selfish and not thinking of their child.
The “Most Unusual Names of the Decade” list, published on Tuesday, was compiled by Bounty Parenting Club, a parent organisation after it attempted to discover how many had tried to give their baby an unusual name.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/bPjEgB
The survey, for a parenting group, found that more than one in three parents now claimed their child had an unusual name. Experts said many new parents were being influenced by celebrities who had given their children more unusual names.
But they warned parents to “think very carefully” before embarking on unusual names because it could affect their child’s psychology.
The poll found three quarters of people who had given their child a traditional name believed more alternative parents were paving the way for their child to be bullied.
They added that those who had chosen more wacky names were selfish and not thinking of their child.
The “Most Unusual Names of the Decade” list, published on Tuesday, was compiled by Bounty Parenting Club, a parent organisation after it attempted to discover how many had tried to give their baby an unusual name.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/bPjEgB
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