To celebrate Pride Angel’s 3rd New Year's celebration and as a thank you to all our members, we are giving free message credits to all those who login over the New Year Period.
How to get your FREE message credits?
Simply log back into Pride Angel or Register if you’re not a member during the New Year period:
- Login on the 31st December or the 1st January 2012 to receive 5 free message credits
Your free message credits will be added to your account on the 2nd January – don’t worry you don’t need to do anything!
It’s also a great idea to update your profile regularly and make sure that all your ‘About you’ details are up to date!
So take advantage and login or register now.
Leave a lasting impression... It’s important to make sure that you are utilising all the tools available to you on the Pride Angel website in order to promote yourself to others.
Here are some quick tips for improving your profile:
- Update your ‘About You’ details: this is your opportunity to talk about your likes, dislikes, your values and interesting facts about you and your life – make sure you fill it in!
- Complete your health questionnaire: this is an important part of a profile for people looking for potential donors, recipients and co-parents. Assure people who are viewing your profile that you have the all clear!
- Add a current photograph: Let people see your face! It’s a common fact that people react to profiles with photographs so to increase your chances of a click through, add a recent photo!
Login and update your profile now.
For all those starting on the path to parenthood, we send our best wishes, and wish you happiness along your journey.
All the best for the New Year
Pride Angel
Note: Free message credits will only be added to your account once and only if your account has been verified, regardless of the number of times you log in over this time period. If you do not receive your free message credits by the 3rd January, please get in touch.
Friday 30 December 2011
Thursday 29 December 2011
Cut price IVF test improves chances of a healthy baby
A cut-price test that could dramatically increase the chances of having a healthy baby through IVF could be available within 18 months. Oxford University researchers say their test could ‘revolutionise’ the treatment as it is half the price of existing tests and may be just as effective.
It may be cheap enough for use by the Health Service. And, unlike existing tests, it does not involve the potentially risky step of taking a sample of cells from the egg or fledgling embryo, making it safer and more ethically acceptable.
Instead, it works by analysing a ‘cloud’ of cells that nurture and feed the egg. These are normally thrown away in IVF treatment but fertility doctors Dagan Wells and Elpida Fragouli believe they hold important clues to the health of the egg.
Keeping and analysing these cells could help clinics select the best eggs for fertility treatment. It should also spare would-be parents the emotional and financial heartache of going through repeated unsuccessful IVF treatments. Analysing these ‘cloud’, or cumulous, cells is also likely to be much cheaper at £1,000 or less compared with the £2,000 cost of other techniques, bringing the technology within range of many more couples.
Despite IVF’s reputation as an insurance policy, the treatment works in less than a quarter of cases, and many of the failures are because of problems with the eggs’ chromosomes. There are already several ways of checking the chromosomes, but they require a small sample from the egg or embryo and so are not completely without risk to the unborn child.
The cumulous cells, however, can be studied without harming the egg. These cells grow and mature with the egg and so any problems that damage the egg, such as a poor blood supply, should also show up in the cells. The doctors have carried out a small-scale study that has shown that certain genes being over or under-active in the cumulous cells is a sign of abnormal eggs.
Calculations suggest that using the technique to pick out the healthiest eggs would boost a woman’s odds of having a baby. Existing tests can double or triple the odds of IVF success, and it is hoped the new test will be just as good.
Dr Wells said: ‘The number of patients we looked at is very small. This is very much a work in progress, but there is good reason for optimism at this point.’
A larger-scale study is planned, and if that goes well the technique could be trialled on women for the first time in the summer of 2012. If it proves to be safe and effective, it could be in widespread use early in 2013.
Article: 28th December 2011 www.dailymail.co.uk
It may be cheap enough for use by the Health Service. And, unlike existing tests, it does not involve the potentially risky step of taking a sample of cells from the egg or fledgling embryo, making it safer and more ethically acceptable.
Instead, it works by analysing a ‘cloud’ of cells that nurture and feed the egg. These are normally thrown away in IVF treatment but fertility doctors Dagan Wells and Elpida Fragouli believe they hold important clues to the health of the egg.
Keeping and analysing these cells could help clinics select the best eggs for fertility treatment. It should also spare would-be parents the emotional and financial heartache of going through repeated unsuccessful IVF treatments. Analysing these ‘cloud’, or cumulous, cells is also likely to be much cheaper at £1,000 or less compared with the £2,000 cost of other techniques, bringing the technology within range of many more couples.
Despite IVF’s reputation as an insurance policy, the treatment works in less than a quarter of cases, and many of the failures are because of problems with the eggs’ chromosomes. There are already several ways of checking the chromosomes, but they require a small sample from the egg or embryo and so are not completely without risk to the unborn child.
The cumulous cells, however, can be studied without harming the egg. These cells grow and mature with the egg and so any problems that damage the egg, such as a poor blood supply, should also show up in the cells. The doctors have carried out a small-scale study that has shown that certain genes being over or under-active in the cumulous cells is a sign of abnormal eggs.
Calculations suggest that using the technique to pick out the healthiest eggs would boost a woman’s odds of having a baby. Existing tests can double or triple the odds of IVF success, and it is hoped the new test will be just as good.
Dr Wells said: ‘The number of patients we looked at is very small. This is very much a work in progress, but there is good reason for optimism at this point.’
A larger-scale study is planned, and if that goes well the technique could be trialled on women for the first time in the summer of 2012. If it proves to be safe and effective, it could be in widespread use early in 2013.
Article: 28th December 2011 www.dailymail.co.uk
Tuesday 27 December 2011
Fertility clinics overcharging couples desperate for children
Fertility clinics are charging women who want to have children three times the actual cost of their treatment – with the NHS as guilty as private practitioners in exploiting desperate couples.
The accusation comes from the fertility pioneer Lord Robert Winston, who today launches a scathing attack on the high cost of fertility treatment in the UK and the unfettered use of expensive, unproven tests by private clinics.
The Labour peer and former head of the NHS IVF clinic at Hammersmith Hospital said there was a "huge amount of exploitation going on" and that some of the charges were a "scandal". "A combination of avarice on the part of the clinics and desperation on the part of the women is driving this market," he said in an interview with The Independent.
Figures show over 45,000 women had IVF in 2010, with 60 per cent paying for themselves and 40 per cent treated on the NHS. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence recommends that eligible women aged from 23 to 39 be offered three cycles of treatment on the NHS but primary care trusts vary widely in how closely they follow the guidance.
For the majority of patients, who must pay privately, the average basic cost of treatment is £2,500 a cycle in clinics run by the NHS and £3,500 in private clinics. The price of drugs and tests is added to the bill which can double the cost. Lord Winston said: "My view is that both NHS and private clinics are charging much more than the cost of delivering the treatment." He calculated the costs, taking account of salaries and overheads, for a large unit treating 2,000 patients a year where economies of scale meant it could carry out treatment more efficiently.
"I costed the salaries very generously and concluded you could deliver treatment for £700 per cycle. Adding in the overheads [equipment, materials, rent] takes that to £1,200 to £1,300 a cycle. "NHS clinics are charging their private patients around £2,500 a cycle and private clinics around £3,500 a cycle. It is pure exploitation. The NHS is basing its fees not on what it costs but on what it thinks the market will bear."
He said some clinics were charging annual fees of £350 to store frozen embryos and eggs when liquid nitrogen cost 70 pence a flask and the storage costs amounted to no more than £10 a year. "It is a scandal," he said.
Lord Winston also attacked the growing use of experimental techniques for which there was little evidence by private clinics trying to enhance their success rates. "There are no randomised controlled trials and without trials we cannot know that they work. Can you imagine going into hospital with cancer and a doctor saying, 'I am going to give you this treatment because I think it might work?'
"If you are doing experimental treatment there should be a cast-iron rule that you don't charge vast sums to the patient. What they are doing is profiting from something that has not been trialled." Responding to the criticism, Simon Fishel, managing director of Care Fertility, the largest private provider of IVF in the UK, challenged Lord Winston to defend his own private practice at the Royal Masonic Hospital during the 1990s. "Why did he charge what he charged then? His clinic was not achieving the best success rates but charged among the highest prices."
Mr Fishel said the ethics of using new tests on patients for which there was only anecdotal evidence was one he "wrestled with". He was the first to use a screening technique called array-comparative genomic hybridisation, which led to the birth of a baby to a mother whose 13 previous attempts at IVF had failed. "Anecdotal evidence is never enough. But you can't always start off with [better] evidence. When was sperm injection ever proven to be safe before it was introduced in the UK? The largest cause of miscarriage is chromosomal abnormality. If we can screen out embryos which are chromosomally abnormal, the patient may have a better chance [of giving birth].
"If we were paying credence to Robert Winston's view we wouldn't be treating patients and we wouldn't have won the Nobel Prize [awarded to Sir Robert Edwards in 2010 for the world's first IVF baby born in 1978]. In the end treatment must be evidence-based but it doesn't mean you have to start off from there." Lord Winston said all the money raised from his private work had gone to charity and was ploughed back into treating NHS patients. "I raised millions of pounds. I don't think I could sleep at night paying into my personal account the large sums that women are paying for treatment."
IVF treatment conceivable changes
Getting fertility treatment on the NHS could be about to become more difficult. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is updating its guidance on infertility treatment and is due to publish new recommendations in February.
Current guidance says that women aged 23 to 39 who have been trying for a baby for a year without success should be offered three cycles of IVF. But provision for the one in seven couples in the UK which has difficulty conceiving is patchy. Campaigners fear criteria for treatment may be tightened under the new guidelines. In addition, they say the NHS reforms which include plans for GPs to take over commissioning of services could exacerbate the existing postcode lottery.
Susan Seenan, deputy chief executive of the Infertility Network, said IVF must be commissioned nationally to ensure equality of access: "IVF treatment is the only example of an accepted medical intervention that is routinely rationed. Local commissioning of fertility services will only serve to widen this postcode lottery, further entrenching inequalities in the health service."
Case study: 'The treatment is hugely expensive'
Gill Tinsdeall and her husband Mark spent £20,000 on five failed attempts at IVF before turning to adoption. "It was absolutely shattering. IVF treatment is hugely expensive. We were able to afford it by going without things but it is a huge amount of money." Gill, a human resources manager and Mark, who works for a water company, began treatment in West Yorkshire in 2007. She was then 34, and though one cycle of treatment was offered on the NHS, there was a year-long waiting list and they felt they could not wait. They paid around £3,000 as private patients to be treated at their local NHS hospital, but were unsuccessful. Another attempt at a private clinic led to a pregnancy but Gill miscarried.
Two failed attempts with donor eggs followed, and a final attempt, paid for this time by the NHS, was also unsuccessful. Gill said: "The fight to get access to NHS treatment added hugely to the stress. The only thing that kept me going was the friends I met through Infertility UK. They helped me through the nightmare." Contact infertilitynetworkuk.com
Article: 26th December 2011 www.independent.co.uk
Read more about alternatives to IVF such as natural fertility and home insemination
The accusation comes from the fertility pioneer Lord Robert Winston, who today launches a scathing attack on the high cost of fertility treatment in the UK and the unfettered use of expensive, unproven tests by private clinics.
The Labour peer and former head of the NHS IVF clinic at Hammersmith Hospital said there was a "huge amount of exploitation going on" and that some of the charges were a "scandal". "A combination of avarice on the part of the clinics and desperation on the part of the women is driving this market," he said in an interview with The Independent.
Figures show over 45,000 women had IVF in 2010, with 60 per cent paying for themselves and 40 per cent treated on the NHS. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence recommends that eligible women aged from 23 to 39 be offered three cycles of treatment on the NHS but primary care trusts vary widely in how closely they follow the guidance.
For the majority of patients, who must pay privately, the average basic cost of treatment is £2,500 a cycle in clinics run by the NHS and £3,500 in private clinics. The price of drugs and tests is added to the bill which can double the cost. Lord Winston said: "My view is that both NHS and private clinics are charging much more than the cost of delivering the treatment." He calculated the costs, taking account of salaries and overheads, for a large unit treating 2,000 patients a year where economies of scale meant it could carry out treatment more efficiently.
"I costed the salaries very generously and concluded you could deliver treatment for £700 per cycle. Adding in the overheads [equipment, materials, rent] takes that to £1,200 to £1,300 a cycle. "NHS clinics are charging their private patients around £2,500 a cycle and private clinics around £3,500 a cycle. It is pure exploitation. The NHS is basing its fees not on what it costs but on what it thinks the market will bear."
He said some clinics were charging annual fees of £350 to store frozen embryos and eggs when liquid nitrogen cost 70 pence a flask and the storage costs amounted to no more than £10 a year. "It is a scandal," he said.
Lord Winston also attacked the growing use of experimental techniques for which there was little evidence by private clinics trying to enhance their success rates. "There are no randomised controlled trials and without trials we cannot know that they work. Can you imagine going into hospital with cancer and a doctor saying, 'I am going to give you this treatment because I think it might work?'
"If you are doing experimental treatment there should be a cast-iron rule that you don't charge vast sums to the patient. What they are doing is profiting from something that has not been trialled." Responding to the criticism, Simon Fishel, managing director of Care Fertility, the largest private provider of IVF in the UK, challenged Lord Winston to defend his own private practice at the Royal Masonic Hospital during the 1990s. "Why did he charge what he charged then? His clinic was not achieving the best success rates but charged among the highest prices."
Mr Fishel said the ethics of using new tests on patients for which there was only anecdotal evidence was one he "wrestled with". He was the first to use a screening technique called array-comparative genomic hybridisation, which led to the birth of a baby to a mother whose 13 previous attempts at IVF had failed. "Anecdotal evidence is never enough. But you can't always start off with [better] evidence. When was sperm injection ever proven to be safe before it was introduced in the UK? The largest cause of miscarriage is chromosomal abnormality. If we can screen out embryos which are chromosomally abnormal, the patient may have a better chance [of giving birth].
"If we were paying credence to Robert Winston's view we wouldn't be treating patients and we wouldn't have won the Nobel Prize [awarded to Sir Robert Edwards in 2010 for the world's first IVF baby born in 1978]. In the end treatment must be evidence-based but it doesn't mean you have to start off from there." Lord Winston said all the money raised from his private work had gone to charity and was ploughed back into treating NHS patients. "I raised millions of pounds. I don't think I could sleep at night paying into my personal account the large sums that women are paying for treatment."
IVF treatment conceivable changes
Getting fertility treatment on the NHS could be about to become more difficult. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is updating its guidance on infertility treatment and is due to publish new recommendations in February.
Current guidance says that women aged 23 to 39 who have been trying for a baby for a year without success should be offered three cycles of IVF. But provision for the one in seven couples in the UK which has difficulty conceiving is patchy. Campaigners fear criteria for treatment may be tightened under the new guidelines. In addition, they say the NHS reforms which include plans for GPs to take over commissioning of services could exacerbate the existing postcode lottery.
Susan Seenan, deputy chief executive of the Infertility Network, said IVF must be commissioned nationally to ensure equality of access: "IVF treatment is the only example of an accepted medical intervention that is routinely rationed. Local commissioning of fertility services will only serve to widen this postcode lottery, further entrenching inequalities in the health service."
Case study: 'The treatment is hugely expensive'
Gill Tinsdeall and her husband Mark spent £20,000 on five failed attempts at IVF before turning to adoption. "It was absolutely shattering. IVF treatment is hugely expensive. We were able to afford it by going without things but it is a huge amount of money." Gill, a human resources manager and Mark, who works for a water company, began treatment in West Yorkshire in 2007. She was then 34, and though one cycle of treatment was offered on the NHS, there was a year-long waiting list and they felt they could not wait. They paid around £3,000 as private patients to be treated at their local NHS hospital, but were unsuccessful. Another attempt at a private clinic led to a pregnancy but Gill miscarried.
Two failed attempts with donor eggs followed, and a final attempt, paid for this time by the NHS, was also unsuccessful. Gill said: "The fight to get access to NHS treatment added hugely to the stress. The only thing that kept me going was the friends I met through Infertility UK. They helped me through the nightmare." Contact infertilitynetworkuk.com
Article: 26th December 2011 www.independent.co.uk
Read more about alternatives to IVF such as natural fertility and home insemination
Saturday 24 December 2011
Free message credits this Christmas and New Year
To celebrate Pride Angel’s 3rd Christmas and as a thank you to all our members, we are giving free message credits to all those who login over the festive periods.
How to get your FREE message credits?
Simply log back into Pride Angel or Register if you’re not a member during the Christmas period:
- Login on the 24th, 25th or 26th December and receive 5 free message credits
- Login on the 31st December or the 1st January 2012 to receive 5 free message credits
- Or login over Christmas AND New Year to receive 10 credits!
Your free message credits will be added to your account on the 27th December and the 2nd January – don’t worry you don’t need to do anything!
It’s also a great idea to update your profile regularly and make sure that all your ‘About you’ details are up to date!
So take advantage and login or register now.
Leave a lasting impression... It’s important to make sure that you are utilising all the tools available to you on the Pride Angel website in order to promote yourself to others.
Here are some quick tips for improving your profile:
- Update your ‘About You’ details: this is your opportunity to talk about your likes, dislikes, your values and interesting facts about you and your life – make sure you fill it in!
- Complete your health questionnaire: this is an important part of a profile for people looking for potential donors, recipients and co-parents. Assure people who are viewing your profile that you have the all clear!
- Add a current photograph: Let people see your face! It’s a common fact that people react to profiles with photographs so to increase your chances of a click through, add a recent photo!
Login and update your profile now.
For all those starting on the path to parenthood, we send our best wishes, and wish you happiness along your journey.
Here’s to a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for the New Year ahead!
Pride Angel
Note: Free message credits will only be added to your account once and only if your account has been verified, regardless of the number of times you log in over this time period. If you do not receive your free message credits by the 3rd January, please get in touch.
How to get your FREE message credits?
Simply log back into Pride Angel or Register if you’re not a member during the Christmas period:
- Login on the 24th, 25th or 26th December and receive 5 free message credits
- Login on the 31st December or the 1st January 2012 to receive 5 free message credits
- Or login over Christmas AND New Year to receive 10 credits!
Your free message credits will be added to your account on the 27th December and the 2nd January – don’t worry you don’t need to do anything!
It’s also a great idea to update your profile regularly and make sure that all your ‘About you’ details are up to date!
So take advantage and login or register now.
Leave a lasting impression... It’s important to make sure that you are utilising all the tools available to you on the Pride Angel website in order to promote yourself to others.
Here are some quick tips for improving your profile:
- Update your ‘About You’ details: this is your opportunity to talk about your likes, dislikes, your values and interesting facts about you and your life – make sure you fill it in!
- Complete your health questionnaire: this is an important part of a profile for people looking for potential donors, recipients and co-parents. Assure people who are viewing your profile that you have the all clear!
- Add a current photograph: Let people see your face! It’s a common fact that people react to profiles with photographs so to increase your chances of a click through, add a recent photo!
Login and update your profile now.
For all those starting on the path to parenthood, we send our best wishes, and wish you happiness along your journey.
Here’s to a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for the New Year ahead!
Pride Angel
Note: Free message credits will only be added to your account once and only if your account has been verified, regardless of the number of times you log in over this time period. If you do not receive your free message credits by the 3rd January, please get in touch.
Thursday 22 December 2011
Are we heading for an Infertility Epidemic?
Research figures published in 2005 stated that by 2015, 33% of the population would be infertile. Now, as we head into 2012, we are only 3 years away, so, are we still heading for this infertility epidemic and why?
Since the introduction of industrial, agricultural and household chemicals in the 1960’s, we have continued to be exposed to an increasing number of toxic chemicals; in turn fertility problems have risen continually every year. Today, an average 30 yr old female in Britain has at least 500 potentially dangerous man made chemicals in a fat sample, whereas an Egyptian mummy has none. Likewise, men in western countries have half the sperm production of their grandfathers at the same age. This information alone is reason enough to understand why we are becoming infertile.
Dr. Alan Beer, a world renowned Immunologist, stated in his 2006 book “Is your body baby friendly?”, that as much as 40% of unexplained infertility may be the result of immune problems, as are as many as 80% of unexplained pregnancy losses. Immune problems may be lying dormant and there may be an imbalance causing disruption to your fertility which you and your GP may be unaware of it. An imbalanced immune system may be attacking any successful attempts of conception; therefore the body is in conflict with itself and needs to be rebalanced. With 80% of our immune system residing in the Digestive System, this highlights the importance of good digestion to aid in strengthening Immunity.
With an abundance of food choices today, our diets are often lacking in nutrients which directly affects successful conception and pregnancy. There have been several recent articles in the press about the increase of rickets due to vitamin D deficiency in pregnant mothers. Vitamin D deficiency is on the increase impacting the health of the Egg & Sperm and causing fertility problems.
Infertility is a modern day problem; our lifestyles, poor diets and lack of understanding of health are not conducive to fertility.
Article: 22nd December 2011 by Clare & Donovan Blake www.naturalfertilityprogram.co.uk
Since the introduction of industrial, agricultural and household chemicals in the 1960’s, we have continued to be exposed to an increasing number of toxic chemicals; in turn fertility problems have risen continually every year. Today, an average 30 yr old female in Britain has at least 500 potentially dangerous man made chemicals in a fat sample, whereas an Egyptian mummy has none. Likewise, men in western countries have half the sperm production of their grandfathers at the same age. This information alone is reason enough to understand why we are becoming infertile.
Dr. Alan Beer, a world renowned Immunologist, stated in his 2006 book “Is your body baby friendly?”, that as much as 40% of unexplained infertility may be the result of immune problems, as are as many as 80% of unexplained pregnancy losses. Immune problems may be lying dormant and there may be an imbalance causing disruption to your fertility which you and your GP may be unaware of it. An imbalanced immune system may be attacking any successful attempts of conception; therefore the body is in conflict with itself and needs to be rebalanced. With 80% of our immune system residing in the Digestive System, this highlights the importance of good digestion to aid in strengthening Immunity.
With an abundance of food choices today, our diets are often lacking in nutrients which directly affects successful conception and pregnancy. There have been several recent articles in the press about the increase of rickets due to vitamin D deficiency in pregnant mothers. Vitamin D deficiency is on the increase impacting the health of the Egg & Sperm and causing fertility problems.
Infertility is a modern day problem; our lifestyles, poor diets and lack of understanding of health are not conducive to fertility.
Article: 22nd December 2011 by Clare & Donovan Blake www.naturalfertilityprogram.co.uk
Wednesday 21 December 2011
Fertility 'wand' doubles chances of becoming pregnant by IVF
Scientists have developed a ‘fertility wand’ that has been shown to double the chances of becoming pregnant. The pregnancy rate among women undergoing IVF who had the new treatment was 32.7 per cent, compared to 13.7 per cent in comparison groups who did not have the therapy.
The live birth rate was also higher in the treatment group — 22.4 per cent compared to 9.8 per cent in the untreated group. The new treatment works on the womb lining. Fertility experts believe a poor quality womb lining may be a significant factor in women struggling to conceive.
In order for a woman to become pregnant, a fertilised egg, or embryo, has to become implanted into the womb lining. This process is complex, involving hormones, growth factors and chemicals produced by the immune system called cytokines.
The process is not fully understood, and there is no treatment if it goes wrong. However, Israeli researchers recently made the discovery that slight damage to the womb lining actually results in improved fertility. They found that 45 women who had undergone a uterine biopsy — where tissue was taken from the lining of the womb — had almost twice the rate of pregnancies and births as a control group.
A U.S. study found this damage triggered a repair response in the body, producing growth factors and cytokines. It also increased the activity of genes thought to play a role in preparing the lining for implantation.
These findings have been put to the test in a new trial involving 100 women who’d previously failed to conceive with IVF, despite their embryos being of a good quality. They were either given the new treatment or were allocated to a control group.
Pipelle The treatment involves inserting a long plastic tube-like device (known as the Pipelle) into the womb and then rotating it 360 degrees to ‘scratch’ the lining. Patients in the study were given painkillers 30 minutes before the procedure, which was carried out twice in one month.
The results, reported in the Journal of Human Reproduction Sciences, showed the pregnancy rate in the treated group was over double that of the control group.
Further clinical trials using the technique are now underway. Some 500 women are being recruited at Mansoura University in Egypt, while in another trial at the Sheba Medical Centre, Israel, 70 IVF patients will be randomly, selected to undergo the therapy with the Pipelle device.
Commenting on the research, Sanjay Vyas, a gynaecologist at Southmead Hospital, Bristol says: ‘This is very interesting work. Implantation failure when the quality of embryos transferred is good can be heartbreaking because it cannot be predicted.
‘This intervention is simple, and if it genuinely improves the implantation rate, it would be very good news. ‘We await the results of the larger trial with interest.’
Article: 19th December 2011 www.dailymail.co.uk
The live birth rate was also higher in the treatment group — 22.4 per cent compared to 9.8 per cent in the untreated group. The new treatment works on the womb lining. Fertility experts believe a poor quality womb lining may be a significant factor in women struggling to conceive.
In order for a woman to become pregnant, a fertilised egg, or embryo, has to become implanted into the womb lining. This process is complex, involving hormones, growth factors and chemicals produced by the immune system called cytokines.
The process is not fully understood, and there is no treatment if it goes wrong. However, Israeli researchers recently made the discovery that slight damage to the womb lining actually results in improved fertility. They found that 45 women who had undergone a uterine biopsy — where tissue was taken from the lining of the womb — had almost twice the rate of pregnancies and births as a control group.
A U.S. study found this damage triggered a repair response in the body, producing growth factors and cytokines. It also increased the activity of genes thought to play a role in preparing the lining for implantation.
These findings have been put to the test in a new trial involving 100 women who’d previously failed to conceive with IVF, despite their embryos being of a good quality. They were either given the new treatment or were allocated to a control group.
Pipelle The treatment involves inserting a long plastic tube-like device (known as the Pipelle) into the womb and then rotating it 360 degrees to ‘scratch’ the lining. Patients in the study were given painkillers 30 minutes before the procedure, which was carried out twice in one month.
The results, reported in the Journal of Human Reproduction Sciences, showed the pregnancy rate in the treated group was over double that of the control group.
Further clinical trials using the technique are now underway. Some 500 women are being recruited at Mansoura University in Egypt, while in another trial at the Sheba Medical Centre, Israel, 70 IVF patients will be randomly, selected to undergo the therapy with the Pipelle device.
Commenting on the research, Sanjay Vyas, a gynaecologist at Southmead Hospital, Bristol says: ‘This is very interesting work. Implantation failure when the quality of embryos transferred is good can be heartbreaking because it cannot be predicted.
‘This intervention is simple, and if it genuinely improves the implantation rate, it would be very good news. ‘We await the results of the larger trial with interest.’
Article: 19th December 2011 www.dailymail.co.uk
Monday 19 December 2011
Gay couple told they will be grandparents goes viral on YouTube
A reaction video posted by user charper 140 on 11 December 2010 of a gay couple hearing the news that they are to be grandparents has gone viral after a year on popular self-broadcasting site, YouTube.
Titled "We told Dads they're going to be Grandpas", the video depicts a family gathering of the two men and a young woman in a kitchen in America, a third man is filming.
The cameraman asks the couple: "So, tell me what it's going to be like, now that you two are going to be grandpas".
The reaction of sheer joy and disbelief, in particular displayed by the man in white, has become a huge hit across the web. Although it is unclear why the video has suddenly become so popular.
Comments include, "I challenge anyone (with a brain, heart or soul) to see such genuine love and tell them it's wrong."
"Every child should be born into a house with this much love and joy, the world would be a much better place."
The most popular comment, currently standing at 55 Vote Ups, stands firm with YouTube's satirical following: "Hold on, THIS is what's destroying my traditional family?"
In second place comes "This is why same sex marriage should be legal" with 17 votes.
Article: 16th December 2011 www.gaystarnews.com
Gay,lesbian wishing to become parents? find your parenting match with pride at Pride Angel
Titled "We told Dads they're going to be Grandpas", the video depicts a family gathering of the two men and a young woman in a kitchen in America, a third man is filming.
The cameraman asks the couple: "So, tell me what it's going to be like, now that you two are going to be grandpas".
The reaction of sheer joy and disbelief, in particular displayed by the man in white, has become a huge hit across the web. Although it is unclear why the video has suddenly become so popular.
Comments include, "I challenge anyone (with a brain, heart or soul) to see such genuine love and tell them it's wrong."
"Every child should be born into a house with this much love and joy, the world would be a much better place."
The most popular comment, currently standing at 55 Vote Ups, stands firm with YouTube's satirical following: "Hold on, THIS is what's destroying my traditional family?"
In second place comes "This is why same sex marriage should be legal" with 17 votes.
Article: 16th December 2011 www.gaystarnews.com
Gay,lesbian wishing to become parents? find your parenting match with pride at Pride Angel
Saturday 17 December 2011
UK High Court Judge endorses International Surrogacy
Sir Nicholas Wall, the President of the High Court Family Division, has made public his decision to give parenthood to the British parents of twins born through surrogacy in India. The President said the issues were of “considerable public importance” and he wished to endorse the previous judgments of Mr Justice Hedley in other similar cases.
The decision, from one of the UK’s most senior family judges, represents a bolstering of the UK court’s position on international surrogacy: that although commercially organised surrogacy is not yet permitted in the UK, British parents can be awarded parenthood if they go abroad and pay a foreign surrogate mother more than her ‘reasonable expenses’. Sir Nicholas Wall made clear that the court’s paramount consideration is the child’s welfare, and that a birth certificate will be given as long as there has been no exploitation and the parents are not circumventing child protection laws in the UK.
In this particular case, two Indian surrogate mothers (carrying embryos created with the intended father’s sperm and eggs from the same anonymous donor) gave birth to a boy and a girl within a few days of each other, following a surrogacy arrangement commissioned by a British couple. A total of some £27,000 was paid to the Indian clinic. The court was ultimately satisfied that the parents were “entirely genuine and straightforward” and that “it is plainly in the interests of these two children that they should brought up by Mr and Mrs A as their parents”.
The case follows similar decisions by Mr Justice Hedley in the cases of Re X and Y (2008) in which British parents paid £23,000 to a Ukrainian surrogate mother, Re S (2009) involving a Californian surrogacy arrangement, Re L (2010) involving a surrogate mother based in Illinois and Re IJ (2011) involving a Ukrainian surrogacy.
Article: 13th December 2011 www.nataliegambleassociates.co.uk
The decision, from one of the UK’s most senior family judges, represents a bolstering of the UK court’s position on international surrogacy: that although commercially organised surrogacy is not yet permitted in the UK, British parents can be awarded parenthood if they go abroad and pay a foreign surrogate mother more than her ‘reasonable expenses’. Sir Nicholas Wall made clear that the court’s paramount consideration is the child’s welfare, and that a birth certificate will be given as long as there has been no exploitation and the parents are not circumventing child protection laws in the UK.
In this particular case, two Indian surrogate mothers (carrying embryos created with the intended father’s sperm and eggs from the same anonymous donor) gave birth to a boy and a girl within a few days of each other, following a surrogacy arrangement commissioned by a British couple. A total of some £27,000 was paid to the Indian clinic. The court was ultimately satisfied that the parents were “entirely genuine and straightforward” and that “it is plainly in the interests of these two children that they should brought up by Mr and Mrs A as their parents”.
The case follows similar decisions by Mr Justice Hedley in the cases of Re X and Y (2008) in which British parents paid £23,000 to a Ukrainian surrogate mother, Re S (2009) involving a Californian surrogacy arrangement, Re L (2010) involving a surrogate mother based in Illinois and Re IJ (2011) involving a Ukrainian surrogacy.
Article: 13th December 2011 www.nataliegambleassociates.co.uk
Thursday 15 December 2011
IVF not needed for many infertile couples - DuoFertility study shows
A new study published in European Obstetrics & Gynaecology shows that just six months using the DuoFertility monitor and service gives the same chance of pregnancy as a cycle of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) for many infertile couples. This study demonstrates that there is a viable non-invasive, drug-free alternative to IVF for thousands of couples, with the potential to save them (and the NHS) millions of pounds each year.
The paper is the first peer-reviewed publication of clinical pregnancy rates using the new DuoFertility product and service. Lead author, Dr. Oriane Chausiaux said “The results show that for couples suffering from unexplained infertility as well as a variety of other factors, twelve months using DuoFertility yields a higher clinical pregnancy rate than a cycle of IVF.” Not only is IVF invasive for the woman and demeaning for the man, but for many couples it is a procedure needlessly costing the NHS, or the couple themselves, thousands of pounds. A typical cycle of IVF in the private sector costs £7,000 all up. By comparison the DuoFertility program offers a year of monitoring and support for £500 - and it comes with a 12-month money-back pregnancy guarantee.
The publication coincides with the 200th reported pregnancy by users of DuoFertility, which was celebrated at the weekend with a party hosted by medical personality Dr. Miriam Stoppard. Dr. Stoppard, addressing the assembled parents and parents-to-be, said "[it is] the first product or service that I have seen in this arena which truly wraps around all of the needs of the couple, from the medical monitoring, to the review of this data by experts, and then the all-important emotional support that is provided."..."The results of the scientific studies on pregnancy rate are very encouraging, but do need to be followed up with live birth rates, and I look forward to seeing further research."
The authors of the study caution that although non-invasive and drug-free, DuoFertility is not suitable for all couples. Dr. Husheer, inventor of DuoFertility explained “although DuoFertility is suitable for around 80% of infertile couples, there are some couples with medically identified conditions that prevent natural conception, such as a woman with two blocked fallopian tubes. In these cases IVF is absolutely the right thing to do, enabling conception where it was previously a physical impossibility.”
About Cambridge Temperature Concepts Cambridge Temperature Concepts Limited (CTC) has developed a new kind of wireless physiological monitor, which measures body temperature, heat flow and movement with unprecedented resolution. The first application (DuoFertility) is in conception assistance for couples suffering infertility, however work is underway in areas as diverse as sleep quality monitoring, hypoglycemia detection, infection control and a range of veterinary applications. DuoFertility is a non-invasive, easy-to-use female fertility monitor. It is the most natural, convenient, and precise way of maximising the chances of getting pregnant.
CTC was founded by graduate students at the University of Cambridge in, winning business competitions at collegiate, university, regional and national levels prior to Angel funding. Less than 18 months later, the DuoFertility product had progressed from sheet-of-paper through medical device approvals, production prototype, Europe-wide trial, and had gained first direct-to-consumer sales.
Article: by Cambridge Temperature Concepts, 14th December 2011
The paper is the first peer-reviewed publication of clinical pregnancy rates using the new DuoFertility product and service. Lead author, Dr. Oriane Chausiaux said “The results show that for couples suffering from unexplained infertility as well as a variety of other factors, twelve months using DuoFertility yields a higher clinical pregnancy rate than a cycle of IVF.” Not only is IVF invasive for the woman and demeaning for the man, but for many couples it is a procedure needlessly costing the NHS, or the couple themselves, thousands of pounds. A typical cycle of IVF in the private sector costs £7,000 all up. By comparison the DuoFertility program offers a year of monitoring and support for £500 - and it comes with a 12-month money-back pregnancy guarantee.
The publication coincides with the 200th reported pregnancy by users of DuoFertility, which was celebrated at the weekend with a party hosted by medical personality Dr. Miriam Stoppard. Dr. Stoppard, addressing the assembled parents and parents-to-be, said "[it is] the first product or service that I have seen in this arena which truly wraps around all of the needs of the couple, from the medical monitoring, to the review of this data by experts, and then the all-important emotional support that is provided."..."The results of the scientific studies on pregnancy rate are very encouraging, but do need to be followed up with live birth rates, and I look forward to seeing further research."
The authors of the study caution that although non-invasive and drug-free, DuoFertility is not suitable for all couples. Dr. Husheer, inventor of DuoFertility explained “although DuoFertility is suitable for around 80% of infertile couples, there are some couples with medically identified conditions that prevent natural conception, such as a woman with two blocked fallopian tubes. In these cases IVF is absolutely the right thing to do, enabling conception where it was previously a physical impossibility.”
About Cambridge Temperature Concepts Cambridge Temperature Concepts Limited (CTC) has developed a new kind of wireless physiological monitor, which measures body temperature, heat flow and movement with unprecedented resolution. The first application (DuoFertility) is in conception assistance for couples suffering infertility, however work is underway in areas as diverse as sleep quality monitoring, hypoglycemia detection, infection control and a range of veterinary applications. DuoFertility is a non-invasive, easy-to-use female fertility monitor. It is the most natural, convenient, and precise way of maximising the chances of getting pregnant.
CTC was founded by graduate students at the University of Cambridge in, winning business competitions at collegiate, university, regional and national levels prior to Angel funding. Less than 18 months later, the DuoFertility product had progressed from sheet-of-paper through medical device approvals, production prototype, Europe-wide trial, and had gained first direct-to-consumer sales.
Article: by Cambridge Temperature Concepts, 14th December 2011
Monday 12 December 2011
Mothercare Competition Winner | Mittens, Bootees and Decisions
Imagine a pair of mittens, and bootees to match, tiny and all furry soft and with paw prints on the palms and soles. And in the half-price sale. Of course we bought them, but this time they were not just a gift for one of our many breeding friends (someone‘s popping one out at least once a month or so now). No, we bought them as a symbol – a symbol of our decision-making process about whether to have a child. If one day, someone else’s child wears them, it will be because we decided not to do it. For now though, the jury is out…
It’s the suddenness of prospective parenthood that is most disconcerting. After fifteen years of sorting out your sexuality and looking for love and, once you find it, a bit of time settling down, rings and vows and all, by the time the question of kids even crosses your mind as a vague and rather complicated option for a lesbian couple, you’re suddenly aged thirty-four and starting to think actually, if we’re going to do this, it needs to be soon. Do straight couples actually really think it through? Or is it just what you do, once you’ve been working a few years and you’re married with the three-bedroomed semi and the Ford Focus? I don’t honestly know, but my guess is, when you’re gay you think it through a lot harder.
You question your motives: is it selfish to want a child? Do we just want one because our friends have them? Because we think we could do a good job of it? Because now we’re civil partnered, what’s next? You question the morality of the method: is it wrong to have a child by artificial insemination when so many children need adopting? (I’d follow this principle when acquiring a cat – but does the morality change with a child?) To what extent is it genetic engineering when you select a donor who looks good on paper? (Don’t even ask what makes a donor ‘look good’ on paper.) And is that selection process actually any more engineered than a straight person selecting a spouse which whom to breed?
And then once you’ve convinced yourself you’re okay with the whole sperm donor idea, what then? A series of weird discussions (We know – we’ve had them) about which of your friends or friends’ husbands you would most like to impregnate yourself/girlfriend. Do you ask the one who’d be least freaked out by the whole prospect, or the one who looks healthiest and still has a good head of hair? And when you ask him, how exactly would that conversation go? Seriously, I’d like to know.
Frankly, it’s going to involve some uncomfortable discussions, but on the other hand, that whole donor bank thing of a complete stranger with blue eyes, brown hair and an A’ level in computing appeals even less. Our recent discovery of the Pride Angel website has introduced a more attractive option of finding a sperm donor who we can meet and develop some sort of (albeit unconventional) relationship with, but who is otherwise unconnected with us personally, and this is the option we’re currently working on.
But for now the mittens and bootees, with the fur and the paw prints, are on a shelf in the wardrobe, waiting patiently for the possibility of any paws close to home that might one day fit inside.
Winning article: by Lindsey, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom 12th December 2011
It’s the suddenness of prospective parenthood that is most disconcerting. After fifteen years of sorting out your sexuality and looking for love and, once you find it, a bit of time settling down, rings and vows and all, by the time the question of kids even crosses your mind as a vague and rather complicated option for a lesbian couple, you’re suddenly aged thirty-four and starting to think actually, if we’re going to do this, it needs to be soon. Do straight couples actually really think it through? Or is it just what you do, once you’ve been working a few years and you’re married with the three-bedroomed semi and the Ford Focus? I don’t honestly know, but my guess is, when you’re gay you think it through a lot harder.
You question your motives: is it selfish to want a child? Do we just want one because our friends have them? Because we think we could do a good job of it? Because now we’re civil partnered, what’s next? You question the morality of the method: is it wrong to have a child by artificial insemination when so many children need adopting? (I’d follow this principle when acquiring a cat – but does the morality change with a child?) To what extent is it genetic engineering when you select a donor who looks good on paper? (Don’t even ask what makes a donor ‘look good’ on paper.) And is that selection process actually any more engineered than a straight person selecting a spouse which whom to breed?
And then once you’ve convinced yourself you’re okay with the whole sperm donor idea, what then? A series of weird discussions (We know – we’ve had them) about which of your friends or friends’ husbands you would most like to impregnate yourself/girlfriend. Do you ask the one who’d be least freaked out by the whole prospect, or the one who looks healthiest and still has a good head of hair? And when you ask him, how exactly would that conversation go? Seriously, I’d like to know.
Frankly, it’s going to involve some uncomfortable discussions, but on the other hand, that whole donor bank thing of a complete stranger with blue eyes, brown hair and an A’ level in computing appeals even less. Our recent discovery of the Pride Angel website has introduced a more attractive option of finding a sperm donor who we can meet and develop some sort of (albeit unconventional) relationship with, but who is otherwise unconnected with us personally, and this is the option we’re currently working on.
But for now the mittens and bootees, with the fur and the paw prints, are on a shelf in the wardrobe, waiting patiently for the possibility of any paws close to home that might one day fit inside.
Winning article: by Lindsey, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom 12th December 2011
Sunday 11 December 2011
Stress in pregnancy causes premature babies and risk of miscarrying boys
Mothers-to-be who are highly stressed during the second and third month of pregnancy are more at risk of giving birth prematurely and losing boy babies, say researchers. A new study shows exposure to stress can shorten the length of pregnancy, making it more likely that babies will be born early and for boys to be miscarried.
It is the first time stress has been shown to affect the balance between the sexes, known as the sex ratio, which normally favours an excess in the number of boys being born. It has been described as nature's way of balancing an increased risk of premature death in young men, starting in infancy.
The latest findings suggest the extra risk to boys starts even earlier – in the womb. The results come from a study investigating the effect on pregnant women of the stress caused by the 2005 Tarapaca earthquake in Chile.
But US researchers claim there could be implications for pregnant women in more normally stressful situations, because the effects are independent of poverty, bad housing and poor diet. Professors Florencia Torche and Karine Kleinhaus, of New York University, analysed birth certificates of all babies born between 2004-2006 in Chile, where there are 200,000 births a year. The magnitude of the earthquake was measured at 7.9, which is classified as ‘disastrous’.
The researchers found that women who lived closest to the quake during their second and third months of pregnancy had shorter pregnancies and were at higher risk of delivering pre-term, before 37 weeks gestation. The pregnancies of women exposed to the earthquake in the second month of pregnancy were on average 1.3 days shorter than those in the unaffected areas of Chile. The pregnancies of those exposed in the third month were almost two days shorter.
Normally, about six in 100 women had a pre-term birth, but among women exposed to the earthquake in the third month of pregnancy, this rose by 3.4 per cent, meaning more than nine women in 100 delivered their babies early. The researchers found a decline in the sex ratio among those exposed to the earthquake in the third month of 5.8 per cent, meaning fewer boy babies survived to delivery.
The study is published online in the leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction. Prof Kleinhaus, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, and Environmental Medicine, said ‘Generally, there are more male than female live births.
‘The ratio of male to female births is approximately 51:49 – in other words, out of every 100 births, 51 will be boys. ‘Our findings indicate a 5.8 per cent decline in this proportion, which would translate into a ratio of 45 male births per 100 births, so that there are now more female than male births. This is a significant change for this type of measure.’
Previous research has suggested in times of stress women are more likely to miscarry boys because they grow larger than girls and require more sustenance from the mother, and they may also be less robust than females and not adapt their development to a stressful environment in the womb. Prof Torche said ‘Our findings on a decreased sex ratio support this hypothesis and suggest that stress may affect the viability of male births.
She said the study provided strong evidence that stress independently affected the outcome of pregnancies, rather than being a side-effect of poor housing, poverty and bad diet. ‘In terms of implications, it is clearly unrealistic to recommend avoiding natural disasters. However, this research suggests the need to improve access to healthcare for women from the onset of pregnancy and even before conception. ‘Obviously this will not reduce the exposure to stress, but it may provide care, advice, and tools that would allow women to cope with stressful circumstances’ she added.
Article: 9th Decemeber 2011 www.dailymail.co.uk
It is the first time stress has been shown to affect the balance between the sexes, known as the sex ratio, which normally favours an excess in the number of boys being born. It has been described as nature's way of balancing an increased risk of premature death in young men, starting in infancy.
The latest findings suggest the extra risk to boys starts even earlier – in the womb. The results come from a study investigating the effect on pregnant women of the stress caused by the 2005 Tarapaca earthquake in Chile.
But US researchers claim there could be implications for pregnant women in more normally stressful situations, because the effects are independent of poverty, bad housing and poor diet. Professors Florencia Torche and Karine Kleinhaus, of New York University, analysed birth certificates of all babies born between 2004-2006 in Chile, where there are 200,000 births a year. The magnitude of the earthquake was measured at 7.9, which is classified as ‘disastrous’.
The researchers found that women who lived closest to the quake during their second and third months of pregnancy had shorter pregnancies and were at higher risk of delivering pre-term, before 37 weeks gestation. The pregnancies of women exposed to the earthquake in the second month of pregnancy were on average 1.3 days shorter than those in the unaffected areas of Chile. The pregnancies of those exposed in the third month were almost two days shorter.
Normally, about six in 100 women had a pre-term birth, but among women exposed to the earthquake in the third month of pregnancy, this rose by 3.4 per cent, meaning more than nine women in 100 delivered their babies early. The researchers found a decline in the sex ratio among those exposed to the earthquake in the third month of 5.8 per cent, meaning fewer boy babies survived to delivery.
The study is published online in the leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction. Prof Kleinhaus, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, and Environmental Medicine, said ‘Generally, there are more male than female live births.
‘The ratio of male to female births is approximately 51:49 – in other words, out of every 100 births, 51 will be boys. ‘Our findings indicate a 5.8 per cent decline in this proportion, which would translate into a ratio of 45 male births per 100 births, so that there are now more female than male births. This is a significant change for this type of measure.’
Previous research has suggested in times of stress women are more likely to miscarry boys because they grow larger than girls and require more sustenance from the mother, and they may also be less robust than females and not adapt their development to a stressful environment in the womb. Prof Torche said ‘Our findings on a decreased sex ratio support this hypothesis and suggest that stress may affect the viability of male births.
She said the study provided strong evidence that stress independently affected the outcome of pregnancies, rather than being a side-effect of poor housing, poverty and bad diet. ‘In terms of implications, it is clearly unrealistic to recommend avoiding natural disasters. However, this research suggests the need to improve access to healthcare for women from the onset of pregnancy and even before conception. ‘Obviously this will not reduce the exposure to stress, but it may provide care, advice, and tools that would allow women to cope with stressful circumstances’ she added.
Article: 9th Decemeber 2011 www.dailymail.co.uk
Wednesday 7 December 2011
Talent Show Success!
The first heat of Calderdale Pride’s talent contest got underway on Saturday 3rd December at Bar Place with the Mayor of Calderdale, Nader Fekri opening the evening’s events.
Pride Volunteer, Vikki Kitson said “Pride's Got Talent is a first for us and was a huge success which totally exceeded our expectations”. "All our contestants put on a fantastic and fun evening's entertainment for the crowd, and the audience were really supportive throughout”.
Following the success of the evening, the second heat of Pride’s Got Talent will be held on Saturday 25th February at Bar Place in Hebden Bridge. “We’re proud to showcase some of the best talent around, including a previous Britain's Got Talent star, and we’d be thrilled to invite performers from all backgrounds along to our next heat in February” said Vikki.
The winners from both heats will go through to compete in our grand final in March, with the overall winner of Pride’s Got Talent bagging themselves a £100 cash prize and the opportunity to perform at Pride 2012. “So whether you’re a dancer, singer, drag artist or comedian, we’d be really pleased to welcome you along to the second heat in February” Vikki added.
All contestants must be aged 18 years or over. For all contestant enquiries, please contact Pride’s Got Talent at: calderdalepridesecretary@o2email.co.uk.
Calderdale Pride held a raffle which raised all-important funds towards Pride 2012, and would sincerely like to thank Bar Place, the Victoria Theatre, Sainsbury's in Halifax, Fresh, and Simply Flowers in Brighouse for generously donating raffle prizes.
Article: December 2011 www.calerdalepride.org.uk
Pride Volunteer, Vikki Kitson said “Pride's Got Talent is a first for us and was a huge success which totally exceeded our expectations”. "All our contestants put on a fantastic and fun evening's entertainment for the crowd, and the audience were really supportive throughout”.
Following the success of the evening, the second heat of Pride’s Got Talent will be held on Saturday 25th February at Bar Place in Hebden Bridge. “We’re proud to showcase some of the best talent around, including a previous Britain's Got Talent star, and we’d be thrilled to invite performers from all backgrounds along to our next heat in February” said Vikki.
The winners from both heats will go through to compete in our grand final in March, with the overall winner of Pride’s Got Talent bagging themselves a £100 cash prize and the opportunity to perform at Pride 2012. “So whether you’re a dancer, singer, drag artist or comedian, we’d be really pleased to welcome you along to the second heat in February” Vikki added.
All contestants must be aged 18 years or over. For all contestant enquiries, please contact Pride’s Got Talent at: calderdalepridesecretary@o2email.co.uk.
Calderdale Pride held a raffle which raised all-important funds towards Pride 2012, and would sincerely like to thank Bar Place, the Victoria Theatre, Sainsbury's in Halifax, Fresh, and Simply Flowers in Brighouse for generously donating raffle prizes.
Article: December 2011 www.calerdalepride.org.uk
Monday 5 December 2011
Coffee could pose a risk to pregnant women study reveals
Study reveals that high street coffee shops could pose a risk to pregnant women due to large variations in caffeine content. Analysis of espresso coffees from 20 shops found one with a caffeine content six times higher than another. Researchers from the University of Glasgow said customers were completely unaware of the caffeine levels in cups of coffee.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) advise that pregnant women should restrict their average daily caffeine content to 200mg. But while a cup of coffee from Starbucks was found to have 51mg of caffeine, a Costa coffee had 157mg. The highest amount of caffeine was found in a cup from Glasgow-based Patisserie Francoise, which was serving 322mg in a single drink.
The FSA warn that too much caffeine could result in miscarriage or a baby having a lower birth weight, which can increase the risk of some health conditions in later life.
Alan Crozier, from the research team, said: "Despite the increasing number of coffee shops on the high street and in airports, there appear to be no recent publications on the caffeine contents of the various types of commercially prepared coffees. "This snap-shot of high street espresso coffees suggests the published assumption that a cup of strong coffee contains 50mg of caffeine may be misleading."
Researchers analysed coffees ranging in cup size from 23-70ml. Their findings are published in the latest edition of the Royal Society of Chemistry's Food and Function journal. Dr Crozier added that the size of the coffee was the most important influence to the amount of caffeine.
He said: "The main factor is that some places use a lot more coffee than other outlets to make an espresso, which is fine for some people but pregnant women could unwittingly consume more caffeine than is good for them while thinking they are well within their recommended limit."
Article: 1st December 2011 www.independent.co.uk
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) advise that pregnant women should restrict their average daily caffeine content to 200mg. But while a cup of coffee from Starbucks was found to have 51mg of caffeine, a Costa coffee had 157mg. The highest amount of caffeine was found in a cup from Glasgow-based Patisserie Francoise, which was serving 322mg in a single drink.
The FSA warn that too much caffeine could result in miscarriage or a baby having a lower birth weight, which can increase the risk of some health conditions in later life.
Alan Crozier, from the research team, said: "Despite the increasing number of coffee shops on the high street and in airports, there appear to be no recent publications on the caffeine contents of the various types of commercially prepared coffees. "This snap-shot of high street espresso coffees suggests the published assumption that a cup of strong coffee contains 50mg of caffeine may be misleading."
Researchers analysed coffees ranging in cup size from 23-70ml. Their findings are published in the latest edition of the Royal Society of Chemistry's Food and Function journal. Dr Crozier added that the size of the coffee was the most important influence to the amount of caffeine.
He said: "The main factor is that some places use a lot more coffee than other outlets to make an espresso, which is fine for some people but pregnant women could unwittingly consume more caffeine than is good for them while thinking they are well within their recommended limit."
Article: 1st December 2011 www.independent.co.uk
Friday 2 December 2011
Taking vitamin pill could double success rate of IVF
A 30p multi-vitamin pill could more than double a woman’s chance of having a baby by IVF, according to a study. It found that 60 per cent of those taking the supplements while undergoing IVF became pregnant compared to just a quarter who did not take them.
Researchers say the pills contain nutrients that may boost fertility such as vitamins A, C and E, zinc and selenium, that are often absent from our diets.
The study carried out at University College London involved 56 women aged 18 to 40, who had all tried unsuccessfully to fall pregnant using IVF for at least a year. Half were given a multi-nutrient pill to take every day and the other half given folic acid pills to take daily.
The micronutrient pill also contained folic acid which prevents birth defects and has also been shown to help boost fertility. The team found that 60 per cent of women taking the multi-nutrients fell pregnant, and did not miscarry in the first three months when it is most common. This compared to 25 per cent of women in the group taking folic acid who were still pregnant after three months.
The study published in the journal Reproductive Biomedicine also found that women taking the micronutrients needed far fewer attempts to become pregnant. Of those who fell pregnant, 75 per cent conceived in the first course of IVF.
By comparison just 18 per cent of those on folic acid who became pregnant did so after the first IVF course. The particular pill, Vitabiotics Pregnacare-Conception,contains folic acid, vitamin B, vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin C, zinc, selenium and some antioxidants.
Lead researcher Dr Rina Agrawal said: 'The implications of this study are far reaching as they suggest that prenatal micronutrient supplementation in women undergoing ovulation induction improve pregnancy rates. 'There is a large body of evidence establishing the relationship between placental development, foetal growth, pregnancy outcomes and adequate nutrition, particularly vitamin intake.'
But other scientists pointed out that the study was very small so the results should not be taken too seriously. Dr Allan Pacey who specialises in fertility at the University of Sheffield said: 'The influence of nutrition on our fertility is of general interest to the public and professionals, but there are relatively few studies which have examined this systematically and few which have shown direct benefits of taking supplements to enhance things.'
'Therefore, on the face of it, this study is interesting but we should acknowledge that this is a relatively small number of patients and the study would need to be repeated in a larger trial before we could be certain of the results.' A woman’s fertility is known to be affected by a number of factors including her age, weight, alcohol consumption, whether she smokes.
High levels of stress and even drinking too much coffee have also been shown to reduce the chances of falling pregnant.
Article 2nd December 2011 www.dailymail.co.uk
Researchers say the pills contain nutrients that may boost fertility such as vitamins A, C and E, zinc and selenium, that are often absent from our diets.
The study carried out at University College London involved 56 women aged 18 to 40, who had all tried unsuccessfully to fall pregnant using IVF for at least a year. Half were given a multi-nutrient pill to take every day and the other half given folic acid pills to take daily.
The micronutrient pill also contained folic acid which prevents birth defects and has also been shown to help boost fertility. The team found that 60 per cent of women taking the multi-nutrients fell pregnant, and did not miscarry in the first three months when it is most common. This compared to 25 per cent of women in the group taking folic acid who were still pregnant after three months.
The study published in the journal Reproductive Biomedicine also found that women taking the micronutrients needed far fewer attempts to become pregnant. Of those who fell pregnant, 75 per cent conceived in the first course of IVF.
By comparison just 18 per cent of those on folic acid who became pregnant did so after the first IVF course. The particular pill, Vitabiotics Pregnacare-Conception,contains folic acid, vitamin B, vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin C, zinc, selenium and some antioxidants.
Lead researcher Dr Rina Agrawal said: 'The implications of this study are far reaching as they suggest that prenatal micronutrient supplementation in women undergoing ovulation induction improve pregnancy rates. 'There is a large body of evidence establishing the relationship between placental development, foetal growth, pregnancy outcomes and adequate nutrition, particularly vitamin intake.'
But other scientists pointed out that the study was very small so the results should not be taken too seriously. Dr Allan Pacey who specialises in fertility at the University of Sheffield said: 'The influence of nutrition on our fertility is of general interest to the public and professionals, but there are relatively few studies which have examined this systematically and few which have shown direct benefits of taking supplements to enhance things.'
'Therefore, on the face of it, this study is interesting but we should acknowledge that this is a relatively small number of patients and the study would need to be repeated in a larger trial before we could be certain of the results.' A woman’s fertility is known to be affected by a number of factors including her age, weight, alcohol consumption, whether she smokes.
High levels of stress and even drinking too much coffee have also been shown to reduce the chances of falling pregnant.
Article 2nd December 2011 www.dailymail.co.uk
Wednesday 30 November 2011
Wi-fi from laptops could damage sperm say scientists
Scientists are questioning if using wi-fi on a laptop to searh the internet could harm a man's fertility, after lab work suggested ejaculated sperm were significantly damaged after only four hours of exposure.
The benchside tests showed sperm were less able to swim and had changes in the genetic code that they carry. Experts stress this does not mean the same would occur in a real-life setting and say men should not worry unduly. But they are recommending more studies.
The preliminary research, published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, looked at semen samples from 29 healthy donors. Each donor sample was separated out into two pots. One of these pots was then stored for four hours next to a laptop that was wirelessly connected to the internet. The other was stored under identical conditions, minus the laptop.
The scientists, from Argentina and the US, suspect that the effect seen is unrelated to the heat kicked out by a laptop, although heat can damage sperm.
The UK's Health Protection Agency has been closely monitoring the safety of wi-fi.
It says people using wi-fi, or those in the proximity of wi-fi equipment, are exposed to the radio signals it emits - and some of the transmitted energy in the signals is absorbed in their bodies. However, the signals are very low power.
The HPA says there is no consistent evidence to date that exposure to radio signals from wi-fi adversely affects the health of the general population.
UK fertility expert Dr Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield, said: "The study is very well conducted, but we should be cautious about what it may infer about the fertility of men who regularly use laptops with wi-fi on their laps.
"Ejaculated sperm are particularly sensitive to many factors because outside the body they don't have the protection of the other cells, tissues and fluids of the body in which they are stored before ejaculation. Therefore, we cannot infer from this study that because a man might use a laptop with wi-fi on his lap for more than four hours then his sperm will necessarily be damaged and he will be less fertile.
"We need large epidemiological studies to determine this, and to my knowledge these have not yet been performed."
He said men should still be cautious about balancing a laptop on their thighs for hours on end.
"We know from other studies that the bottom of laptops can become incredibly hot and inadvertent testicular heating is a risk factor for poor sperm quality.
"There is a case report of a man who burnt his penis after using a laptop resting on his lap for a long time. Therefore, there are many reasons to try and use a laptop on a table where possible, and this may in itself ameliorate any theoretical concerns about wi-fi."
"The study is very well conducted, but we should be cautious about what it may infer about the fertility of men who regularly use laptops with wi-fi on their laps” UK fertility expert Dr Allan Pacey
Article: 30th November 2011 www.bbcnews.co.uk
The benchside tests showed sperm were less able to swim and had changes in the genetic code that they carry. Experts stress this does not mean the same would occur in a real-life setting and say men should not worry unduly. But they are recommending more studies.
The preliminary research, published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, looked at semen samples from 29 healthy donors. Each donor sample was separated out into two pots. One of these pots was then stored for four hours next to a laptop that was wirelessly connected to the internet. The other was stored under identical conditions, minus the laptop.
The scientists, from Argentina and the US, suspect that the effect seen is unrelated to the heat kicked out by a laptop, although heat can damage sperm.
The UK's Health Protection Agency has been closely monitoring the safety of wi-fi.
It says people using wi-fi, or those in the proximity of wi-fi equipment, are exposed to the radio signals it emits - and some of the transmitted energy in the signals is absorbed in their bodies. However, the signals are very low power.
The HPA says there is no consistent evidence to date that exposure to radio signals from wi-fi adversely affects the health of the general population.
UK fertility expert Dr Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield, said: "The study is very well conducted, but we should be cautious about what it may infer about the fertility of men who regularly use laptops with wi-fi on their laps.
"Ejaculated sperm are particularly sensitive to many factors because outside the body they don't have the protection of the other cells, tissues and fluids of the body in which they are stored before ejaculation. Therefore, we cannot infer from this study that because a man might use a laptop with wi-fi on his lap for more than four hours then his sperm will necessarily be damaged and he will be less fertile.
"We need large epidemiological studies to determine this, and to my knowledge these have not yet been performed."
He said men should still be cautious about balancing a laptop on their thighs for hours on end.
"We know from other studies that the bottom of laptops can become incredibly hot and inadvertent testicular heating is a risk factor for poor sperm quality.
"There is a case report of a man who burnt his penis after using a laptop resting on his lap for a long time. Therefore, there are many reasons to try and use a laptop on a table where possible, and this may in itself ameliorate any theoretical concerns about wi-fi."
"The study is very well conducted, but we should be cautious about what it may infer about the fertility of men who regularly use laptops with wi-fi on their laps” UK fertility expert Dr Allan Pacey
Article: 30th November 2011 www.bbcnews.co.uk
Monday 28 November 2011
Liverpool Pride begins fundraising for 2012 to keep event free
Liverpool Pride organisers have said they will begin fundraising efforts for next summer’s event in December of this year to ensure the day remains free.
This is the earliest the event organisers have had to begin collecting money in the city’s history.
Liverpool City Council has said financial constraints may mean it is forced to cut funding to festivals in the city, though organisers say they will continue to work with the authority.
Over 40,000 people attended the event this year, double the 2010 figure of 20,000. A study completed by Liverpool Pride showed that 2011’s festival generated a total spend of over £2.6 million for the local economy.
Organisers are now asking local individuals and businesses to help ensure the event continues to be free in 2012.
James Davies, one of the trustees of Liverpool Pride said: “We’re delighted to be able to announce Liverpool Pride 2012 and can’t wait to start on the road to creating something that is truly special once more.
Although we face some funding cuts due to wider cuts in public spending, we’re determined to make Liverpool Pride 2012 even bigger and better than ever before and can only do that with the help of Liverpool, as a council, as a community and as a business collective.
“We’re grateful to the City Council and to the likes of the European Regional Development Fund as well as our sponsors for all of their support thus far and hope that, despite budget cuts, we can continue to work with them in the coming years.
“We made the festival into a massive success in 2011 even though we faced a 60% cut in our funding from the City Council and we’re determined to do it again even if further cuts should occur.”
Fundraising events begin in December with the Camp as Christmas evening at The Dome on Renshaw Street. The event features erstwhile X Factor contenders Diva Fever, who had to pull out of this year’s Pride event after triple-booking themselves.
Earlier this month, Liverpool unveiled the UK’s first gay street signs. Liverpool Pride is asking local businesses and individuals to run fundraising events including bring and buy sales, cake bake offs and sponsored drag days.
Article: 25th November 2011 www.pinknews.co.uk
This is the earliest the event organisers have had to begin collecting money in the city’s history.
Liverpool City Council has said financial constraints may mean it is forced to cut funding to festivals in the city, though organisers say they will continue to work with the authority.
Over 40,000 people attended the event this year, double the 2010 figure of 20,000. A study completed by Liverpool Pride showed that 2011’s festival generated a total spend of over £2.6 million for the local economy.
Organisers are now asking local individuals and businesses to help ensure the event continues to be free in 2012.
James Davies, one of the trustees of Liverpool Pride said: “We’re delighted to be able to announce Liverpool Pride 2012 and can’t wait to start on the road to creating something that is truly special once more.
Although we face some funding cuts due to wider cuts in public spending, we’re determined to make Liverpool Pride 2012 even bigger and better than ever before and can only do that with the help of Liverpool, as a council, as a community and as a business collective.
“We’re grateful to the City Council and to the likes of the European Regional Development Fund as well as our sponsors for all of their support thus far and hope that, despite budget cuts, we can continue to work with them in the coming years.
“We made the festival into a massive success in 2011 even though we faced a 60% cut in our funding from the City Council and we’re determined to do it again even if further cuts should occur.”
Fundraising events begin in December with the Camp as Christmas evening at The Dome on Renshaw Street. The event features erstwhile X Factor contenders Diva Fever, who had to pull out of this year’s Pride event after triple-booking themselves.
Earlier this month, Liverpool unveiled the UK’s first gay street signs. Liverpool Pride is asking local businesses and individuals to run fundraising events including bring and buy sales, cake bake offs and sponsored drag days.
Article: 25th November 2011 www.pinknews.co.uk
Sunday 27 November 2011
Chinese medicine could double your chance of getting pregnant
The latest study from Australia says chinese medicine could greatly improve chances of getting pregnant. The research at Adelaide University, Australia, reviewed eight clinical trials, 13 other studies and case reports comparing the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with western drugs or IVF treatment.
The review funded by the Australian government included 1,851 women with infertility problems, says a report in the journal Complementary Therapies in Medicine.
Review of the clinical trials alone found a 3.5 rise in pregnancies over a four-month period among women using TCM compared with western medicine. Other data covering 616 women within the review showed 50 per cent of women having TCM got pregnant compared with 30 per cent of those receiving IVF treatment.
TCM is far less expensive than IVF treatment and less stressful The overall analysis concluded there was a two-fold increase in the likelihood of getting pregnant in a four-month period for women using TCM compared with orthodox approaches.
The study’s authors said ‘Our meta-analysis suggests traditional Chinese herbal medicine to be more effective in the treatment of female infertility - achieving on average a 60 per cent pregnancy rate over four months compared with 30 per cent achieved with standard western drug treatment.’
The study said the difference appeared to be due to the careful analysis of the menstrual cycle – the period when it is possible for a woman to conceive – by TCM practitioners. It said ‘Assessment of the quality of the menstrual cycle integral to TCM diagnosis appears to be fundamental to the successful treatment of female infertility.’
Dr Karin Ried (correct) of the university’s school of population health and clinical practice, who led the study, said infertility affects one in six couples and even after investigations 20 per cent of infertility remains ‘unexplained’. She said TCM recognises many more ‘menstrual disturbances’ than conventional medicine, is far less expensive than IVF treatment and less stressful. She said ‘Infertility issues can be treated with the integration of TCM and contemporary medicine to minimise the financial and emotional strain on people.’
Geeta Nargund, medical director of Create fertility clinic in London’s Harley Street, who uses a kinder form of IVF called in-vitro maturation or IVM which spares the woman exposure to drug hormones, said the study findings should be treated with caution. She said ‘We should be doing everything we can to use the least invasive methods to help patients get pregnant, if they don’t work then we can move on to drugs and more invasive approaches.
‘What we desperately need is detailed research into these alternative approaches that monitors what is happening to the body’s hormone systems and ovaries so we can see what difference they are making.
‘But we should not lose sight of the fact that Chinese herbs are potent medicines. They are regarded as natural but they have powerful effects on the body which can include a syndrome that mimics the over-stimulation we sometimes see from western IVF drugs.
‘There are potential risks from using herbs and people should be aware of that’ she added.
The review funded by the Australian government included 1,851 women with infertility problems, says a report in the journal Complementary Therapies in Medicine.
Review of the clinical trials alone found a 3.5 rise in pregnancies over a four-month period among women using TCM compared with western medicine. Other data covering 616 women within the review showed 50 per cent of women having TCM got pregnant compared with 30 per cent of those receiving IVF treatment.
TCM is far less expensive than IVF treatment and less stressful The overall analysis concluded there was a two-fold increase in the likelihood of getting pregnant in a four-month period for women using TCM compared with orthodox approaches.
The study’s authors said ‘Our meta-analysis suggests traditional Chinese herbal medicine to be more effective in the treatment of female infertility - achieving on average a 60 per cent pregnancy rate over four months compared with 30 per cent achieved with standard western drug treatment.’
The study said the difference appeared to be due to the careful analysis of the menstrual cycle – the period when it is possible for a woman to conceive – by TCM practitioners. It said ‘Assessment of the quality of the menstrual cycle integral to TCM diagnosis appears to be fundamental to the successful treatment of female infertility.’
Dr Karin Ried (correct) of the university’s school of population health and clinical practice, who led the study, said infertility affects one in six couples and even after investigations 20 per cent of infertility remains ‘unexplained’. She said TCM recognises many more ‘menstrual disturbances’ than conventional medicine, is far less expensive than IVF treatment and less stressful. She said ‘Infertility issues can be treated with the integration of TCM and contemporary medicine to minimise the financial and emotional strain on people.’
Geeta Nargund, medical director of Create fertility clinic in London’s Harley Street, who uses a kinder form of IVF called in-vitro maturation or IVM which spares the woman exposure to drug hormones, said the study findings should be treated with caution. She said ‘We should be doing everything we can to use the least invasive methods to help patients get pregnant, if they don’t work then we can move on to drugs and more invasive approaches.
‘What we desperately need is detailed research into these alternative approaches that monitors what is happening to the body’s hormone systems and ovaries so we can see what difference they are making.
‘But we should not lose sight of the fact that Chinese herbs are potent medicines. They are regarded as natural but they have powerful effects on the body which can include a syndrome that mimics the over-stimulation we sometimes see from western IVF drugs.
‘There are potential risks from using herbs and people should be aware of that’ she added.
Friday 25 November 2011
Egg Donor Angel helps couple overcome Infertility
Like many couples, Ryan and Holly had always dreamed of having their own family. In 2004, after a year and a half of marriage, the two decided to go off birth control, looking forward to being a family.
Over the next twelve months, Holly took 12 pregnancy tests. Each one gave the same result—not pregnant.
Infertility is defined by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) as the inability to conceive within one year of trying – an issue that affects about 10 percent of women in their childbearing years. For many, fertility medications or assisted reproduction technologies like IVF help overcome the obstacle of infertility to create a family.
For some women, however, an insurmountable obstacle to their fertility reveals itself in the viability of their ovaries. The doctors at the Servy Massey Fertility Institute say that women entering their late 30s and early 40s experience a significant decline in the number of eggs in their ovaries and the quality of the eggs that are left.
For a very small percentage of infertile women, certain conditions can affect the ovaries, eggs, or uterus before aging ever does, and donor eggs are the only way for the couple to become pregnant.
In 2005, Holly had visited her OB/GYN, who found no obvious problems, but prescribed Clomid (an ovulation stimulation drug). Holly and Ryan dove into the world of infertility treatments, connecting with Dr. Edouard Servy at SMFI after learning Holly had polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).
Dr. Servy performed a few rounds of IUI (intrauterine insemination) with no results, so he scheduled Holly for a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy in October 2006. The tests revealed Holly’s ovaries were attached to her uterus and a previous gall bladder surgery had left scar tissue.
After one more failed IUI, they decided to try in vitro fertilization (IVF) in February 2007. “We were so nervous, but so excited. We believed that this was our answer. We were finally going to get pregnant,” Holly remembers. The cycle was canceled, though: Holly didn’t have enough viable follicles, meaning no retrievable eggs.
Ryan and Holly tried again in April, and this time enough follicles were present. Then they were dealt another bad blow. “When Dr. Servy went into my ovaries to retrieve the eggs, there weren’t any,” says Holly. “We learned that I had empty follicle syndrome.”
EFS is a rare-occurring condition where no eggs are retrieved during an IVF procedure, despite the ovaries having many potential follicles. Out of all women diagnosed with infertility, only a fraction will not be able to conceive using their own eggs. Having EFS meant Holly was part of that small percentage.
Facing another defeat, Dr. Servy recommended they take the summer off and start again in the fall. When they met again in August, the only options left to discuss were adoption or egg donation.
“The truth was, I wanted to be pregnant. I wanted to carry our baby,” Holly says. “So we chose to go with an anonymous donor.” They contacted an egg donation agency and began their search for “the one.” After sorting through numerous candidates, Holly and Ryan chose the donor they call “Angel.”
“She seemed to have the same dry humor as my husband. Her likes and dislikes were similar to ours and her medical history was great,” Holly says. “Then we opened the packet and saw her picture – she looked just like me!”
Angel had never donated before, so they weren’t sure if she would have a successful egg retrieval. They felt it was meant to be, so they took the chance.
Several embryos were created from the donated eggs and Ryan’s sperm and two were transferred to Holly’s womb. On March 13, 2008, Holly found out she was pregnant.
To read more go to http://bit.lyluktH3S
Over the next twelve months, Holly took 12 pregnancy tests. Each one gave the same result—not pregnant.
Infertility is defined by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) as the inability to conceive within one year of trying – an issue that affects about 10 percent of women in their childbearing years. For many, fertility medications or assisted reproduction technologies like IVF help overcome the obstacle of infertility to create a family.
For some women, however, an insurmountable obstacle to their fertility reveals itself in the viability of their ovaries. The doctors at the Servy Massey Fertility Institute say that women entering their late 30s and early 40s experience a significant decline in the number of eggs in their ovaries and the quality of the eggs that are left.
For a very small percentage of infertile women, certain conditions can affect the ovaries, eggs, or uterus before aging ever does, and donor eggs are the only way for the couple to become pregnant.
In 2005, Holly had visited her OB/GYN, who found no obvious problems, but prescribed Clomid (an ovulation stimulation drug). Holly and Ryan dove into the world of infertility treatments, connecting with Dr. Edouard Servy at SMFI after learning Holly had polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).
Dr. Servy performed a few rounds of IUI (intrauterine insemination) with no results, so he scheduled Holly for a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy in October 2006. The tests revealed Holly’s ovaries were attached to her uterus and a previous gall bladder surgery had left scar tissue.
After one more failed IUI, they decided to try in vitro fertilization (IVF) in February 2007. “We were so nervous, but so excited. We believed that this was our answer. We were finally going to get pregnant,” Holly remembers. The cycle was canceled, though: Holly didn’t have enough viable follicles, meaning no retrievable eggs.
Ryan and Holly tried again in April, and this time enough follicles were present. Then they were dealt another bad blow. “When Dr. Servy went into my ovaries to retrieve the eggs, there weren’t any,” says Holly. “We learned that I had empty follicle syndrome.”
EFS is a rare-occurring condition where no eggs are retrieved during an IVF procedure, despite the ovaries having many potential follicles. Out of all women diagnosed with infertility, only a fraction will not be able to conceive using their own eggs. Having EFS meant Holly was part of that small percentage.
Facing another defeat, Dr. Servy recommended they take the summer off and start again in the fall. When they met again in August, the only options left to discuss were adoption or egg donation.
“The truth was, I wanted to be pregnant. I wanted to carry our baby,” Holly says. “So we chose to go with an anonymous donor.” They contacted an egg donation agency and began their search for “the one.” After sorting through numerous candidates, Holly and Ryan chose the donor they call “Angel.”
“She seemed to have the same dry humor as my husband. Her likes and dislikes were similar to ours and her medical history was great,” Holly says. “Then we opened the packet and saw her picture – she looked just like me!”
Angel had never donated before, so they weren’t sure if she would have a successful egg retrieval. They felt it was meant to be, so they took the chance.
Several embryos were created from the donated eggs and Ryan’s sperm and two were transferred to Holly’s womb. On March 13, 2008, Holly found out she was pregnant.
To read more go to http://bit.lyluktH3S
Wednesday 23 November 2011
Men improve your sperm count by eating fruit
Female fertility has previously been linked to obesity, but a Brazilian study has discovered that a poor diet in men can lower sperm concentration and affect their ability to reach the egg.
A new study involving 250 men with partners undergoing IVF reveals that those who regularly drink alcoholand eat a poor diet are less fertile than those who eat a diet high in fruit and grains.
Lead researcher Edson Borges, from the Fertility-Assisted Fertilization Center in Sao Paolo, says: 'The sperm concentration was negatively influenced by body mass index and alcohol consumption, and was positively influenced by cerealconsumption and the number of meals per day.'
The results from the study reveal that, from the speed of their sperm to their partner's chance of pregnancy, men who drank alcohol and ate a poor diet were less fertile.
Lynn Westphal from Stanford University hopes that the study, published in the Fertility and Sterility journal, will encourage men to make healthier lifestyle choices.
'We talk about having a healthylifestyleand trying to eliminate any of these things that are bad for health, but I think most of the emphasis tends to be on making sure the woman is as healthy as possible,' she says.
Article: 22nd December 2011 www.marieclaire.co.uk
A new study involving 250 men with partners undergoing IVF reveals that those who regularly drink alcoholand eat a poor diet are less fertile than those who eat a diet high in fruit and grains.
Lead researcher Edson Borges, from the Fertility-Assisted Fertilization Center in Sao Paolo, says: 'The sperm concentration was negatively influenced by body mass index and alcohol consumption, and was positively influenced by cerealconsumption and the number of meals per day.'
The results from the study reveal that, from the speed of their sperm to their partner's chance of pregnancy, men who drank alcohol and ate a poor diet were less fertile.
Lynn Westphal from Stanford University hopes that the study, published in the Fertility and Sterility journal, will encourage men to make healthier lifestyle choices.
'We talk about having a healthylifestyleand trying to eliminate any of these things that are bad for health, but I think most of the emphasis tends to be on making sure the woman is as healthy as possible,' she says.
Article: 22nd December 2011 www.marieclaire.co.uk
Monday 21 November 2011
Surrogacy: Parenting the hard way
Alice Jolly and her husband knew they could offer a loving home to one of the thousands of British children awaiting adoption. So why were they forced to go abroad instead and use a surrogate to get the child they longed for?
The scene: a church hall in Oxford three years ago. My husband, Stephen, and I are attending a seminar for couples who want to adopt. A social worker stands beside a whiteboard and explains the process. I look around at the other couples. Their eyes are blank, puzzled. Some start to yawn while others scratch their heads. The social worker has become a tic tac man at a race course, frantically waving her arms, speaking a language that no-one understands. We all start to stare at our shoes. It's becoming embarrassing – what are we doing here and who put these people in charge of something so important?
A man in the audience is trying to raise his hand but his wife keeps pulling his arm back down. He refuses to be silenced. "So any 16-year-old girl can go into an alleyway on Saturday night," he says, "and have a knee-trembler with a bloke whose name she doesn't know, and no one is ever going to ask about her suitability for motherhood. But I'm going to have to go through all this just to be a father?"
The room is silent. The man's wife is tearful. A social worker crouching in the corner makes a note in her black book. We all know that this couple have fallen at the first hurdle. And yet he has only said what everyone in the room is thinking.
As we have a six-year-old son, Stephen and I decide that it might be best for us to adopt a child under two. No children under two are available for adoption in the UK – or at least none are under two by the time they emerge from our adoption system. And so we go to a seminar in North London about overseas adoption. There we are made to play a bizarre board game. Adoption Monopoly? Or is it Snakes and Ladders – but without any ladders? Each couple has a marker to move around the board. Cards are drawn from a pack. They say, "your paper work has been lost, go back three months." Or, "the country you have chosen is now closed for adoption, go back to square one."
Finally, it comes to our turn. "So, Stephen and Alice, where are you up to now?" "Well, I've just retired," Stephen says, pretending to read the card. No one dares laugh or it'll be back to the beginning for them. We break for a coffee and chat to other people. One couple can't currently be considered for adoption because, although they are home owners and employed, they have £5,000 of credit card debt. Another couple used to live in Bedfordshire, and they got two years into the adoption process, but then they moved to Berkshire so they had to begin again.
After coffee, the discussion focuses on the difficulties experienced by adopted children. Two men interrupt – one is black, the other of Asian origin. Both of them were themselves adopted. The lady running the seminar is clearly uncomfortable with real-life multi-cultural adoption stories. But she presses them to express the anger they must surely feel towards their adoptive parents.
"Anger? I was in an orphanage in Thailand and my Mum and Dad adopted me, brought me back here, gave me everything. From an early age I wanted to be a musician and they made that possible. How could I possibly be angry?" Then the black guy says: "I was adopted from Ghana and for me it was certainly traumatic. Because every year my adoptive family in Hampstead wanted to celebrate Ghanaian National Day. So all my flabby, white relatives dressed up in African costumes and played drums. Man, I've been on the pyschiatrist's couch for years..." Doubtless the names of these two have gone into the black book as well.
A one-to-one meeting with a social worker follows. It's a scene from The Trial, by Kafka. We have to convince her we want a child, but we must not appear to want one too much. We tell our story: a stillbirth, four miscarriages, failed IVF. The social worker thinks we have too much baggage – but surely the truth is that most people who adopt do so because other plans have failed?
I mention that we've been told that adopting from Russia will probably take two years. No, she says. It will take four and most of the Russian babies have foetal alcohol syndrome. I have talked to a number of families who have adopted from Russia and they tell a different story – but I can't say so. And so it goes on. No and no and no. We are guilty until proven innocent. Everything is a problem – the fact that we've lived abroad, that we have an existing child, that we both went to boarding school, that once every two months Stephen might smoke a cigarette in a bar.
But strangely, the biggest problem is that we are about to have building work done in our house. Until that work has finished, we can't even start the process. As we drive home, Stephen is fuming and I am in tears. I know the social worker is playing games, trying to find out if we are serious. But could she not have offered some support or encouragement? I know that adoption isn't easy – and that it shouldn't be easy. But does it have to be negative, intrusive, judgemental and so painfully inefficient? Would they rather leave 100 children in care than relax their impossible demands for perfection?
Six months later we meet a lawyer who specialises in gestational surrogacy in the US. Nearly everyone who crosses her threshold has tried to adopt and given up. And US surrogacy? Well, it's expensive and legally complex – but it can be done. We get in touch with agencies in the States. Yes, they say. Yes and yes and yes.
But I am unconvinced. To me, surrogacy seems bizarre and extreme. It's from the world of lawsuits and reality TV shows. But then I talk to people with real experience of surrogacy and uncover a world that couldn't be more different from those sensational media stories. A world in which women are genuinely trying to help other women overcome the pain of infertility.
Two weeks ago we came back from America with our baby daughter. She is called Hope. We are the luckiest people in the world. Throughout the whole process, I continued to doubt whether surrogacy can really work well for everyone involved – now I know that it can. But still I am left with questions about why we couldn't have given a home to an existing child instead of creating a new one. And some part of me will always be haunted by that baby who we might have adopted – and who is probably still waiting for a family and a home.
Article: 15th November 2011 www.independent.co.uk
Photo: Alice Jolly, her husband Stephen and children Thomas and Hope by JOHN LAWRENCE
Proceeds from this article have been donated to SANDS (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society) uk-sands.org
The scene: a church hall in Oxford three years ago. My husband, Stephen, and I are attending a seminar for couples who want to adopt. A social worker stands beside a whiteboard and explains the process. I look around at the other couples. Their eyes are blank, puzzled. Some start to yawn while others scratch their heads. The social worker has become a tic tac man at a race course, frantically waving her arms, speaking a language that no-one understands. We all start to stare at our shoes. It's becoming embarrassing – what are we doing here and who put these people in charge of something so important?
A man in the audience is trying to raise his hand but his wife keeps pulling his arm back down. He refuses to be silenced. "So any 16-year-old girl can go into an alleyway on Saturday night," he says, "and have a knee-trembler with a bloke whose name she doesn't know, and no one is ever going to ask about her suitability for motherhood. But I'm going to have to go through all this just to be a father?"
The room is silent. The man's wife is tearful. A social worker crouching in the corner makes a note in her black book. We all know that this couple have fallen at the first hurdle. And yet he has only said what everyone in the room is thinking.
As we have a six-year-old son, Stephen and I decide that it might be best for us to adopt a child under two. No children under two are available for adoption in the UK – or at least none are under two by the time they emerge from our adoption system. And so we go to a seminar in North London about overseas adoption. There we are made to play a bizarre board game. Adoption Monopoly? Or is it Snakes and Ladders – but without any ladders? Each couple has a marker to move around the board. Cards are drawn from a pack. They say, "your paper work has been lost, go back three months." Or, "the country you have chosen is now closed for adoption, go back to square one."
Finally, it comes to our turn. "So, Stephen and Alice, where are you up to now?" "Well, I've just retired," Stephen says, pretending to read the card. No one dares laugh or it'll be back to the beginning for them. We break for a coffee and chat to other people. One couple can't currently be considered for adoption because, although they are home owners and employed, they have £5,000 of credit card debt. Another couple used to live in Bedfordshire, and they got two years into the adoption process, but then they moved to Berkshire so they had to begin again.
After coffee, the discussion focuses on the difficulties experienced by adopted children. Two men interrupt – one is black, the other of Asian origin. Both of them were themselves adopted. The lady running the seminar is clearly uncomfortable with real-life multi-cultural adoption stories. But she presses them to express the anger they must surely feel towards their adoptive parents.
"Anger? I was in an orphanage in Thailand and my Mum and Dad adopted me, brought me back here, gave me everything. From an early age I wanted to be a musician and they made that possible. How could I possibly be angry?" Then the black guy says: "I was adopted from Ghana and for me it was certainly traumatic. Because every year my adoptive family in Hampstead wanted to celebrate Ghanaian National Day. So all my flabby, white relatives dressed up in African costumes and played drums. Man, I've been on the pyschiatrist's couch for years..." Doubtless the names of these two have gone into the black book as well.
A one-to-one meeting with a social worker follows. It's a scene from The Trial, by Kafka. We have to convince her we want a child, but we must not appear to want one too much. We tell our story: a stillbirth, four miscarriages, failed IVF. The social worker thinks we have too much baggage – but surely the truth is that most people who adopt do so because other plans have failed?
I mention that we've been told that adopting from Russia will probably take two years. No, she says. It will take four and most of the Russian babies have foetal alcohol syndrome. I have talked to a number of families who have adopted from Russia and they tell a different story – but I can't say so. And so it goes on. No and no and no. We are guilty until proven innocent. Everything is a problem – the fact that we've lived abroad, that we have an existing child, that we both went to boarding school, that once every two months Stephen might smoke a cigarette in a bar.
But strangely, the biggest problem is that we are about to have building work done in our house. Until that work has finished, we can't even start the process. As we drive home, Stephen is fuming and I am in tears. I know the social worker is playing games, trying to find out if we are serious. But could she not have offered some support or encouragement? I know that adoption isn't easy – and that it shouldn't be easy. But does it have to be negative, intrusive, judgemental and so painfully inefficient? Would they rather leave 100 children in care than relax their impossible demands for perfection?
Six months later we meet a lawyer who specialises in gestational surrogacy in the US. Nearly everyone who crosses her threshold has tried to adopt and given up. And US surrogacy? Well, it's expensive and legally complex – but it can be done. We get in touch with agencies in the States. Yes, they say. Yes and yes and yes.
But I am unconvinced. To me, surrogacy seems bizarre and extreme. It's from the world of lawsuits and reality TV shows. But then I talk to people with real experience of surrogacy and uncover a world that couldn't be more different from those sensational media stories. A world in which women are genuinely trying to help other women overcome the pain of infertility.
Two weeks ago we came back from America with our baby daughter. She is called Hope. We are the luckiest people in the world. Throughout the whole process, I continued to doubt whether surrogacy can really work well for everyone involved – now I know that it can. But still I am left with questions about why we couldn't have given a home to an existing child instead of creating a new one. And some part of me will always be haunted by that baby who we might have adopted – and who is probably still waiting for a family and a home.
Article: 15th November 2011 www.independent.co.uk
Photo: Alice Jolly, her husband Stephen and children Thomas and Hope by JOHN LAWRENCE
Proceeds from this article have been donated to SANDS (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society) uk-sands.org
Friday 18 November 2011
Fertility treatments such as IVF and ICSI rise in the UK
The number of people accessing fertility treatments such as IVF and ICSI has risen in the UK by almost six percent in the past year.
Statistics released by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HEFA) revealed the number of fertility cycles carried out in 2010 stood at 57,652 – a 5.9 percent increase on treatments in 2009. It was also found that the age of women having such treatments is rising; within the last 20 years it has increased by 18 months.
The average age now stands at 35.1 years, compared to 33.6 years in 1991. Additionally, 19 percent of women having fertility treatments were found to be aged 40 plus, equating to one in five treatments. This figure has increased by nearly 10 percent since 1998.
Health experts believe the overall increase in fertility treatments and cycles is due to budget cuts that have affected the NHS. As a result, the National Health Service in the UK has tightened treatment eligibility regulations, meaning it is more difficult for to people to qualify for NHS funded fertility procedures.
However, in spite of this and the fact that most of fertility treatments are carried out and funded privately, the HEFA figures revealed the number of NHS treatments increased last year.
The proportion of fertility cycles that were funded by the NHS reached 40.6 percent in 2010 compared to 38.5 percent in 2009.
The Chief Executive of Infertility Network UK, Clare Lewis-Jones, commented on the findings. She said: “The fact that only a minority of treatment cycles in 2010 were funded by the NHS continues to highlight the difficulties faced by many patients in trying to access NHS treatment.
“The recent suspension of funding by many PCTs means that the number of NHS-funded cycles will no doubt decrease in 2011 and we are also concerned that, if responsibility for commissioning of fertility services is passed to GPs, there will be even more variations in access to treatment.”
Article: 17th November 2011 www.healthcareglobal.com
Statistics released by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HEFA) revealed the number of fertility cycles carried out in 2010 stood at 57,652 – a 5.9 percent increase on treatments in 2009. It was also found that the age of women having such treatments is rising; within the last 20 years it has increased by 18 months.
The average age now stands at 35.1 years, compared to 33.6 years in 1991. Additionally, 19 percent of women having fertility treatments were found to be aged 40 plus, equating to one in five treatments. This figure has increased by nearly 10 percent since 1998.
Health experts believe the overall increase in fertility treatments and cycles is due to budget cuts that have affected the NHS. As a result, the National Health Service in the UK has tightened treatment eligibility regulations, meaning it is more difficult for to people to qualify for NHS funded fertility procedures.
However, in spite of this and the fact that most of fertility treatments are carried out and funded privately, the HEFA figures revealed the number of NHS treatments increased last year.
The proportion of fertility cycles that were funded by the NHS reached 40.6 percent in 2010 compared to 38.5 percent in 2009.
The Chief Executive of Infertility Network UK, Clare Lewis-Jones, commented on the findings. She said: “The fact that only a minority of treatment cycles in 2010 were funded by the NHS continues to highlight the difficulties faced by many patients in trying to access NHS treatment.
“The recent suspension of funding by many PCTs means that the number of NHS-funded cycles will no doubt decrease in 2011 and we are also concerned that, if responsibility for commissioning of fertility services is passed to GPs, there will be even more variations in access to treatment.”
Article: 17th November 2011 www.healthcareglobal.com
Thursday 17 November 2011
Can Reflexology help you get pregnant?
Infertility can be an emotionally exhausting, not to mention expensive, condition. But according to a growing number of people, the key to helping many couples get pregnant could be far simpler than they think - thanks to reflexology.
An increasing number of women claim this popular type of foot massage has helped them conceive. Now a medical study has been launched to discover if the claims are true.
Reflexology, a traditional healing art dating from the ancient Egyptians and Chinese, involves manipulation of pressure points in the hands and feet and is often used to ease period pain, headaches, sinus and back problems as well as the effects of chemotherapy.
Practitioners claim the soles of the feet are like a mini map of the inside of the body and are linked to our inner organs and systems, including the fallopian tubes and ovaries. By massaging different points on the feet therapists claim they can unblock energy pathways in the body and so help the body to regain its natural balance and heal itself.
Some points on the foot are associated with a woman's egg production and by manipulating these areas reflexologists claim they can correct the imbalances which can hamper pregnancy. The latest research, a two year clinical trial at the IVF unit at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, is the brainchild of reflexologist Jane Holt. She approached the unit after 13 of the 23 women she treated with a range of fertility problems fell pregnant last year.
Beccy Wellington, 34, an auxiliary nurse, from Kingsbridge, in Devon, is convinced that her trip to see Jane in November 1999 resulted in the birth of her son Luke, who is now five months old.
'We had been trying for a baby for just over a year and had begun to look at other ways that would help me conceive when someone recommended reflexology,' she said. 'I had four treatments and was pregnant within three weeks. I am convinced that the reflexology got my body in working order so I was ready to conceive. I also felt ten times better, more positive and a lot happier in myself.' 'I went in there with an open mind, but was totally shocked to find myself pregnant so soon,' she said. 'I would definitely advise other women to try reflexology. It may not work for everyone, but it worked for me and it is worth trying.'
Jane Holt, a reflexologist for 12 years, claims one woman she helped had been trying to get pregnant for 20 years. 'Infertility is a complex problem and I think that often what is needed is something that gives the system a bit of a kick start and that's what reflexology can do,' she said. 'At least this gives women the option to try something else while they are going through hospital procedures and even if it works for some of them that's a bonus.'
Cathy Shipton, who plays nurse Duffy in the BBC TV series Casualty, is also convinced that reflexology on the set of the show in Bristol helped her to become pregnant. She had been trying to have a baby for four years, but four months after having twice weekly reflexology sessions she became pregnant.
In the new study, 150 volunteers will be offered reflexology rather than the fertility drug clomifene, which is usually used to induce ovulation. This drug works in about 70 per cent of patients, but the drug's main drawback is it can increase the likelihood of a multiple pregnancy. The volunteers will each receive eight treatments over a two to three month period. In order for the trial to be conducted in a scientific way, patients and hospital staff will not know whether true reflexology or a 'dummy' version has been given. Only the reflexologist will know who has had the real treatment. One in seven couples suffers with infertility. Last year the Plymouth IVF unit saw over 900 patients. Thirty per cent of these were not producing eggs.
The hospital has already pioneered the use of acupuncture - the insertion of fine needles into the body to unblock energy channels - in pregnancy and routinely offers it to women who might benefit. Dr Jonathan Lord, clinical lecturer in reproductive medicine at the hospital, is co-ordinating the new trial. 'At the moment there is no evidence to say whether reflexology works or not,' he said. 'Although there are several reports of patients in whom it has worked, this is not sufficient evidence to enable it to be routinely recommended.'
Article: 15th November 2011 www.dailymail.co.uk
An increasing number of women claim this popular type of foot massage has helped them conceive. Now a medical study has been launched to discover if the claims are true.
Reflexology, a traditional healing art dating from the ancient Egyptians and Chinese, involves manipulation of pressure points in the hands and feet and is often used to ease period pain, headaches, sinus and back problems as well as the effects of chemotherapy.
Practitioners claim the soles of the feet are like a mini map of the inside of the body and are linked to our inner organs and systems, including the fallopian tubes and ovaries. By massaging different points on the feet therapists claim they can unblock energy pathways in the body and so help the body to regain its natural balance and heal itself.
Some points on the foot are associated with a woman's egg production and by manipulating these areas reflexologists claim they can correct the imbalances which can hamper pregnancy. The latest research, a two year clinical trial at the IVF unit at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, is the brainchild of reflexologist Jane Holt. She approached the unit after 13 of the 23 women she treated with a range of fertility problems fell pregnant last year.
Beccy Wellington, 34, an auxiliary nurse, from Kingsbridge, in Devon, is convinced that her trip to see Jane in November 1999 resulted in the birth of her son Luke, who is now five months old.
'We had been trying for a baby for just over a year and had begun to look at other ways that would help me conceive when someone recommended reflexology,' she said. 'I had four treatments and was pregnant within three weeks. I am convinced that the reflexology got my body in working order so I was ready to conceive. I also felt ten times better, more positive and a lot happier in myself.' 'I went in there with an open mind, but was totally shocked to find myself pregnant so soon,' she said. 'I would definitely advise other women to try reflexology. It may not work for everyone, but it worked for me and it is worth trying.'
Jane Holt, a reflexologist for 12 years, claims one woman she helped had been trying to get pregnant for 20 years. 'Infertility is a complex problem and I think that often what is needed is something that gives the system a bit of a kick start and that's what reflexology can do,' she said. 'At least this gives women the option to try something else while they are going through hospital procedures and even if it works for some of them that's a bonus.'
Cathy Shipton, who plays nurse Duffy in the BBC TV series Casualty, is also convinced that reflexology on the set of the show in Bristol helped her to become pregnant. She had been trying to have a baby for four years, but four months after having twice weekly reflexology sessions she became pregnant.
In the new study, 150 volunteers will be offered reflexology rather than the fertility drug clomifene, which is usually used to induce ovulation. This drug works in about 70 per cent of patients, but the drug's main drawback is it can increase the likelihood of a multiple pregnancy. The volunteers will each receive eight treatments over a two to three month period. In order for the trial to be conducted in a scientific way, patients and hospital staff will not know whether true reflexology or a 'dummy' version has been given. Only the reflexologist will know who has had the real treatment. One in seven couples suffers with infertility. Last year the Plymouth IVF unit saw over 900 patients. Thirty per cent of these were not producing eggs.
The hospital has already pioneered the use of acupuncture - the insertion of fine needles into the body to unblock energy channels - in pregnancy and routinely offers it to women who might benefit. Dr Jonathan Lord, clinical lecturer in reproductive medicine at the hospital, is co-ordinating the new trial. 'At the moment there is no evidence to say whether reflexology works or not,' he said. 'Although there are several reports of patients in whom it has worked, this is not sufficient evidence to enable it to be routinely recommended.'
Article: 15th November 2011 www.dailymail.co.uk
Tuesday 15 November 2011
Sperm donors in sweden are well adjusted men - study shows
Men who pass a screening process and donate to sperm banks in Sweden score better on personality measures, such as responsibility, confidence and self-acceptance, than other men in their peer group, according to a Swedish study. Sweden was the first country to pass a so-called non-anonymous law, which entitles children to contact the sperm donor if they choose. Britain, Australia and other nations also require that donors consent to being contacted.
The United States allows donors to remain anonymous and for them to get paid, unlike Sweden, where men can only volunteer. The non-anonymous laws could be a problem for both sides since nobody can prepare themselves for their reactions if a child decides to contact the biological father, said Gunilla Sydsjo, lead author of the study and a professor at Sweden's Linkoping University.
"A decision made at the age of 25 might be crystal clear for the individual at that time but might take on other dimensions 20 years later," she wrote in an email to Reuters Health. "We have, in this study, shown that the men who are accepted for the program were all in the normal range of character and also demonstrated a mature personality and a stable character."
The study, published in the British obstetrics and gynecology journal BJOG, looked at 115 men who donated sperm at clinics in Sweden between 2005 and 2008, comparing them with men of similar age who did not attempt to donate sperm. Donors in Sweden go through a screening process that weeds out men with psychological or health problems. The study questionnaire asked about behaviors, emotions and social skills.
On two measures, self-directedness and cooperativeness, the donors scored higher than the comparison group, showing that they pursue goals, stick to their values and take responsibility, researchers said. The donors scored lower on one measure, called harm avoidance. "This indicates that the sperm donors described themselves as being less worried, uncertain, shy and less subject to fatigue," the researchers wrote.
All other personality traits, including persistence and novelty seeking behaviors, were similar between the two groups. The results suggested that the donors would not be thrown if a child decided to contact them, said Robert Oates, president of the Society for Male Reproduction and Urology, who was not involved in the study.
"They will be able to handle it if in the future somebody comes to them and says, 'I am your donor child'," he added.
"I think the majority are just nice people who want to help people out. That may be a different personality from the 21-year-old college student who wants to make a lot of money." Two recent studies have shown that uniting children with donor fathers is usually a positive experience, but the researchers wrote that they were not aware of any children in Sweden taking advantage of the transparency law to contact their biological fathers.
Article: www.uk.reuters.com 11th November 2011
The United States allows donors to remain anonymous and for them to get paid, unlike Sweden, where men can only volunteer. The non-anonymous laws could be a problem for both sides since nobody can prepare themselves for their reactions if a child decides to contact the biological father, said Gunilla Sydsjo, lead author of the study and a professor at Sweden's Linkoping University.
"A decision made at the age of 25 might be crystal clear for the individual at that time but might take on other dimensions 20 years later," she wrote in an email to Reuters Health. "We have, in this study, shown that the men who are accepted for the program were all in the normal range of character and also demonstrated a mature personality and a stable character."
The study, published in the British obstetrics and gynecology journal BJOG, looked at 115 men who donated sperm at clinics in Sweden between 2005 and 2008, comparing them with men of similar age who did not attempt to donate sperm. Donors in Sweden go through a screening process that weeds out men with psychological or health problems. The study questionnaire asked about behaviors, emotions and social skills.
On two measures, self-directedness and cooperativeness, the donors scored higher than the comparison group, showing that they pursue goals, stick to their values and take responsibility, researchers said. The donors scored lower on one measure, called harm avoidance. "This indicates that the sperm donors described themselves as being less worried, uncertain, shy and less subject to fatigue," the researchers wrote.
All other personality traits, including persistence and novelty seeking behaviors, were similar between the two groups. The results suggested that the donors would not be thrown if a child decided to contact them, said Robert Oates, president of the Society for Male Reproduction and Urology, who was not involved in the study.
"They will be able to handle it if in the future somebody comes to them and says, 'I am your donor child'," he added.
"I think the majority are just nice people who want to help people out. That may be a different personality from the 21-year-old college student who wants to make a lot of money." Two recent studies have shown that uniting children with donor fathers is usually a positive experience, but the researchers wrote that they were not aware of any children in Sweden taking advantage of the transparency law to contact their biological fathers.
Article: www.uk.reuters.com 11th November 2011
Saturday 12 November 2011
Men are you killing your sperm? Quality and quantity matter in male fertility
Most men don’t give much thought to their prenatal care, but, according to male-fertility experts, what guys do now could make the difference between becoming a dad or not.
Unlike women -- who have all the eggs they will ever have when they’re born -- men produce sperm all day long. Sperm takes about two to three months to fully mature, so a guy’s behaviour during the past 90 days will affect the baby he makes today, or whether he can make one at all, said Dr. Sijo Parekattil, director of urology at Winter Haven Hospital, where he specializes in male infertility.
Although society tends to focus on women when couples can’t conceive, about half the time it’s the guy’s fault, said Parekattil, who will be among several infertility and adoption experts speaking Saturday at a free conference in Lake Mary, Fla.
Among the more common sperm-killing behaviours guys engage in are keeping cellphones in pants pockets, and working with laptops on their laps, which raises sperm temperature.
Other behaviours not conducive to fatherhood are smoking; excessive drinking; frequenting saunas and hot tubs; wearing tight underwear; using recreational drugs, including marijuana; taking male supplements; and getting sick. Studies show that such behaviours can reduce sperm quality and quantity.
Ashok Agarwal, director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, has conducted several studies on the effects of cellphone radiation on sperm. In one lab study, he found that the viability of sperm exposed to cellphone radiation for one hour dropped by 11 per cent compared with control samples.
His research also found that sperm count, motility and viability dropped more as cellphone exposure went up.
"Cellphones emit radiation, which can potentially harm the sperm in men who carry their phones in their pockets or on their belts," Agarwal said. "We believe these harmful effects are due to the proximity of the phones to the groin area."
A bout with the flu can lower sperm count, too, which is why experts recommend that men trying to have children get flu shots. Chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, also take their toll. Obesity can foster low sperm counts because excess fat causes men to produce more female hormones, Parekattil said.
When men take male supplements, including anabolic steroids, their bodies think they’re making too much testosterone and shut down the testicles, which actually atrophy, Parekattil said. Once guys stop taking supplements, sperm production can take a year to resume.
"A man’s lifestyle can impact the DNA organization inside the sperm and the surface properties of the sperm, which are critical for penetrating the egg, fertilizing it and helping the embryo get to full term," said Dr. Michael Witt, a urologist and male-fertility specialist who divides his time between Winter Park, Fla., and Atlanta.
Avoiding these sperm-unfriendly behaviours and conditions are sometimes all men need to do to give their sperm a boost, Witt said.
Besides having a better understanding of how lifestyle and anatomical stresses can affect sperm, men trying to become dads also benefit from another advance in male infertility: in-home sperm-test kits.
Although the home tests aren’t as sensitive as those in the urologist’s office, they’re a lot more convenient and less embarrassing than giving a sample at the doctor’s office.
A normal sperm count is about 40 million motile sperm per ejaculation, according to the World Health Organization. Most men produce that well into their 70s. However, of those men who have problems with infertility, about 10 per cent to 15 per cent make no sperm, and an additional 30 per cent have low sperm.
Among all men, about one in seven has a varicocele, in which excess blood vessels impair the count and quality of sperm, Witt said. Surgery to remove the veins often restores fertility.
Like 15 per cent of American couples, Clay and Wendi Harris of Orlando, Fla., couldn’t have a baby, despite trying for five years. "We were tested seven ways to Sunday" to look for the cause, Clay Harris said.
After five failed rounds of in vitro fertilization, they had just about given up. Then tests showed that Harris, 38, had a sperm count in "the midrange." However, Witt reviewed Harris’ sample and thought the sperm quality would improve if he had varicocele surgery.
In November 2010, Harris had the surgery, and afterward, "my sperm count went through the roof. It skyrocketed to 90 million." Now, the Harrises are expecting a baby boy in early February. "When we go for our weekly ultrasound," said Clay Harris, "we just stare at the baby on the monitor and hold hands."
Article: 11th November 2011 www.vancouversun.com
Check your sperm count with our male fertility test
Unlike women -- who have all the eggs they will ever have when they’re born -- men produce sperm all day long. Sperm takes about two to three months to fully mature, so a guy’s behaviour during the past 90 days will affect the baby he makes today, or whether he can make one at all, said Dr. Sijo Parekattil, director of urology at Winter Haven Hospital, where he specializes in male infertility.
Although society tends to focus on women when couples can’t conceive, about half the time it’s the guy’s fault, said Parekattil, who will be among several infertility and adoption experts speaking Saturday at a free conference in Lake Mary, Fla.
Among the more common sperm-killing behaviours guys engage in are keeping cellphones in pants pockets, and working with laptops on their laps, which raises sperm temperature.
Other behaviours not conducive to fatherhood are smoking; excessive drinking; frequenting saunas and hot tubs; wearing tight underwear; using recreational drugs, including marijuana; taking male supplements; and getting sick. Studies show that such behaviours can reduce sperm quality and quantity.
Ashok Agarwal, director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, has conducted several studies on the effects of cellphone radiation on sperm. In one lab study, he found that the viability of sperm exposed to cellphone radiation for one hour dropped by 11 per cent compared with control samples.
His research also found that sperm count, motility and viability dropped more as cellphone exposure went up.
"Cellphones emit radiation, which can potentially harm the sperm in men who carry their phones in their pockets or on their belts," Agarwal said. "We believe these harmful effects are due to the proximity of the phones to the groin area."
A bout with the flu can lower sperm count, too, which is why experts recommend that men trying to have children get flu shots. Chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, also take their toll. Obesity can foster low sperm counts because excess fat causes men to produce more female hormones, Parekattil said.
When men take male supplements, including anabolic steroids, their bodies think they’re making too much testosterone and shut down the testicles, which actually atrophy, Parekattil said. Once guys stop taking supplements, sperm production can take a year to resume.
"A man’s lifestyle can impact the DNA organization inside the sperm and the surface properties of the sperm, which are critical for penetrating the egg, fertilizing it and helping the embryo get to full term," said Dr. Michael Witt, a urologist and male-fertility specialist who divides his time between Winter Park, Fla., and Atlanta.
Avoiding these sperm-unfriendly behaviours and conditions are sometimes all men need to do to give their sperm a boost, Witt said.
Besides having a better understanding of how lifestyle and anatomical stresses can affect sperm, men trying to become dads also benefit from another advance in male infertility: in-home sperm-test kits.
Although the home tests aren’t as sensitive as those in the urologist’s office, they’re a lot more convenient and less embarrassing than giving a sample at the doctor’s office.
A normal sperm count is about 40 million motile sperm per ejaculation, according to the World Health Organization. Most men produce that well into their 70s. However, of those men who have problems with infertility, about 10 per cent to 15 per cent make no sperm, and an additional 30 per cent have low sperm.
Among all men, about one in seven has a varicocele, in which excess blood vessels impair the count and quality of sperm, Witt said. Surgery to remove the veins often restores fertility.
Like 15 per cent of American couples, Clay and Wendi Harris of Orlando, Fla., couldn’t have a baby, despite trying for five years. "We were tested seven ways to Sunday" to look for the cause, Clay Harris said.
After five failed rounds of in vitro fertilization, they had just about given up. Then tests showed that Harris, 38, had a sperm count in "the midrange." However, Witt reviewed Harris’ sample and thought the sperm quality would improve if he had varicocele surgery.
In November 2010, Harris had the surgery, and afterward, "my sperm count went through the roof. It skyrocketed to 90 million." Now, the Harrises are expecting a baby boy in early February. "When we go for our weekly ultrasound," said Clay Harris, "we just stare at the baby on the monitor and hold hands."
Article: 11th November 2011 www.vancouversun.com
Check your sperm count with our male fertility test
Thursday 10 November 2011
Sperm Donor anonymity debate in US - Should the law change?
When couples struggle with fertility, many of them turn to sperm donors to help them get pregnant.
This process has worked well for many families, but one woman, who used a sperm donor to have a child, says she thinks there should be changes made in the industry.
Wendy Kramer says her son always wanted to meet his biological dad, so she co-founded the Donor Sibling Registry, a website that allows donors and donor-conceived children to voluntarily connect. She says there are now 33,000 users and the website has made more than 9,000 connections.
Families input the name of their sperm bank and their donor number, and see if there are any links with donors or half siblings.
Kramer says it’s very rewarding, but she’s noticed a few things on her website that she finds alarming, like the number of children seemingly fathered by one sperm donor. “We do know there are groups of 50, 70, 100 all the way up to 150 children for one sperm donor,” Kramer says.
She believes that increases the risk of passing on genetic disorders, and poses the risk that a random meeting of half siblings could turn into accidental incest.
“We hear about random and chance meetings all the time on the donor sibling registry,” Kramer said. Kramer believes the sperm bank industry needs to make some big changes. “Donor anonymity is an archaic practice, and it’s something that should be banned,” she says.
She’d like for the donors’ medical histories to be updated over time, and she wants to see some sort of data base that would show if men were donating at multiple sperm banks. But sperm bank directors say this is a complicated issue. “We cannot control the patient,” said Betsy Cairo with Cryogam, the state’s only commercial sperm bank.
She says her bank does limit the number of pregnancies to eight in the region and 25 in the country, but try as they might, they have a hard time getting information once the sperm goes out to other clinics. Cairo says every shipment includes a form asking the patient or the doctor to let the sperm bank know if a pregnancy results, but less than half of people even respond.
“If a patient chooses not to disclose, that is her choice, so are you going to regulate the patient?” she asked. It is a complicated issue. Other countries, including the UK, have done away with anonymity, allowing children born using sperm or egg donation to get information about their genetic parents when they reach age 18. The donors have no financial responsibility, but some people argue that banning donor anonymity would mean fewer people would donate.
Article: Fox 31 Denver 8th November 2011
This process has worked well for many families, but one woman, who used a sperm donor to have a child, says she thinks there should be changes made in the industry.
Wendy Kramer says her son always wanted to meet his biological dad, so she co-founded the Donor Sibling Registry, a website that allows donors and donor-conceived children to voluntarily connect. She says there are now 33,000 users and the website has made more than 9,000 connections.
Families input the name of their sperm bank and their donor number, and see if there are any links with donors or half siblings.
Kramer says it’s very rewarding, but she’s noticed a few things on her website that she finds alarming, like the number of children seemingly fathered by one sperm donor. “We do know there are groups of 50, 70, 100 all the way up to 150 children for one sperm donor,” Kramer says.
She believes that increases the risk of passing on genetic disorders, and poses the risk that a random meeting of half siblings could turn into accidental incest.
“We hear about random and chance meetings all the time on the donor sibling registry,” Kramer said. Kramer believes the sperm bank industry needs to make some big changes. “Donor anonymity is an archaic practice, and it’s something that should be banned,” she says.
She’d like for the donors’ medical histories to be updated over time, and she wants to see some sort of data base that would show if men were donating at multiple sperm banks. But sperm bank directors say this is a complicated issue. “We cannot control the patient,” said Betsy Cairo with Cryogam, the state’s only commercial sperm bank.
She says her bank does limit the number of pregnancies to eight in the region and 25 in the country, but try as they might, they have a hard time getting information once the sperm goes out to other clinics. Cairo says every shipment includes a form asking the patient or the doctor to let the sperm bank know if a pregnancy results, but less than half of people even respond.
“If a patient chooses not to disclose, that is her choice, so are you going to regulate the patient?” she asked. It is a complicated issue. Other countries, including the UK, have done away with anonymity, allowing children born using sperm or egg donation to get information about their genetic parents when they reach age 18. The donors have no financial responsibility, but some people argue that banning donor anonymity would mean fewer people would donate.
Article: Fox 31 Denver 8th November 2011
Tuesday 8 November 2011
61 year old IVF mum said 'I was too old when I had my baby'
A retired teacher who gave birth at 57 through IVF now admits that she was too old to have a child. Susan Tollefsen sparked an ethical storm after becoming Britain’s oldest first-time mother when she had daughter Freya using sperm from her partner Nick Mayer, who is 11 years her junior, and a donor egg.
Now aged 61 and separated from Mr Mayer, she believes there should be an age limit of 50 for IVF treatment for women in the UK. The pensioner said she had split from Mr Mayer in part because of the ‘shock’ of having a child so late in life.
She said: ‘Freya is without doubt the best thing I have ever done in my life, and I have no regrets. But with the benefit of hindsight I recognise that perhaps some of my critics were right.
'I get a great emotional feeling when I look at her, and a sadness when I realise time’s running out. If I could change just one thing, I would wish to be younger so I could enjoy watching Freya grow up, get married and have children of her own. ‘If I’m completely honest, my experience has taught me that 50 should probably be the cut-off limit for having children, but until you have them it’s almost impossible to appreciate that. ‘It’s so true that you only learn by your own mistakes, and my mistake was not to have had her sooner.’
Mrs Tollefsen, a former special needs teacher from Laindon, Essex, gave birth to Freya in 2008. The strain exposed problems that already existed in her relationship with Mr Mayer, and she is now bringing up Freya on her own on a tight income, which includes her pension. Freya stays with her father, a warehouse manager, every other weekend.
‘I’ve never regretted having Freya, but I’ve had to pay a heavy price for my dream of being a mother,’ Mrs Tollefsen added. ‘It’s cost me my relationship. ‘You think you’re madly in love with someone and you just don’t realise what they’re going to be like after you’ve had children.’
Mr Mayer, 49, said: ‘We’re living separately for various reasons. I’d prefer us all to be living together but that’s just not the case – but who knows what’ll happen in the future.’
Mrs Tollefsen also acknowledged the age gap between herself and other mothers at the school gates. ‘They are nice people but we are so different – we are from different generations,’ she said. ‘I have little in common with most of them. They talk about nights out and music and things that just don’t involve me. Sometimes I envy them their youth and infinite chances. I realised, belatedly, that I wanted a sibling for Freya but regretfully I had to devote the time to nursing my parents. But perhaps more than most I now know the real value of the time that’s left to us, and I don’t intend to waste a moment.’
She added: ‘A lot of the criticism I faced was based on my age, with claims that Freya would be abandoned in the event of my death. But Nick is still in his 40s.’ She also lamented the fact that older fathers do not face the sort of criticism she encountered, saying: ‘They get a slap on the back.’ Josephine Quintavalle, a co-founder of the pressure group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, praised Mrs Tollefsen’s candour. ‘One has to admire her honesty in coming forward and speaking frankly about the difficulties about being a mother so old,’ she said. ‘We can only hope that this acts as a warning to others who are in their later years and considering having a child.
‘One has to feel sorry for her, because she took advantage of something society offered her. But I think it shows that we need to have a bit more respect for nature, which seems to know how hard it is to look after a child when you are older. There is a very good reason the menopause comes when it does. IVF and egg-donating are creating a lot of unnatural situations.
‘As a society, we have to start to look at all of these issues from the perspective of the child and ask what is best for them. ‘The ideal situation for a child is to be with a two parents who are young and healthy enough to look after them.’
Article: 7th November 2011 www.dailymail.co.uk
Now aged 61 and separated from Mr Mayer, she believes there should be an age limit of 50 for IVF treatment for women in the UK. The pensioner said she had split from Mr Mayer in part because of the ‘shock’ of having a child so late in life.
She said: ‘Freya is without doubt the best thing I have ever done in my life, and I have no regrets. But with the benefit of hindsight I recognise that perhaps some of my critics were right.
'I get a great emotional feeling when I look at her, and a sadness when I realise time’s running out. If I could change just one thing, I would wish to be younger so I could enjoy watching Freya grow up, get married and have children of her own. ‘If I’m completely honest, my experience has taught me that 50 should probably be the cut-off limit for having children, but until you have them it’s almost impossible to appreciate that. ‘It’s so true that you only learn by your own mistakes, and my mistake was not to have had her sooner.’
Mrs Tollefsen, a former special needs teacher from Laindon, Essex, gave birth to Freya in 2008. The strain exposed problems that already existed in her relationship with Mr Mayer, and she is now bringing up Freya on her own on a tight income, which includes her pension. Freya stays with her father, a warehouse manager, every other weekend.
‘I’ve never regretted having Freya, but I’ve had to pay a heavy price for my dream of being a mother,’ Mrs Tollefsen added. ‘It’s cost me my relationship. ‘You think you’re madly in love with someone and you just don’t realise what they’re going to be like after you’ve had children.’
Mr Mayer, 49, said: ‘We’re living separately for various reasons. I’d prefer us all to be living together but that’s just not the case – but who knows what’ll happen in the future.’
Mrs Tollefsen also acknowledged the age gap between herself and other mothers at the school gates. ‘They are nice people but we are so different – we are from different generations,’ she said. ‘I have little in common with most of them. They talk about nights out and music and things that just don’t involve me. Sometimes I envy them their youth and infinite chances. I realised, belatedly, that I wanted a sibling for Freya but regretfully I had to devote the time to nursing my parents. But perhaps more than most I now know the real value of the time that’s left to us, and I don’t intend to waste a moment.’
She added: ‘A lot of the criticism I faced was based on my age, with claims that Freya would be abandoned in the event of my death. But Nick is still in his 40s.’ She also lamented the fact that older fathers do not face the sort of criticism she encountered, saying: ‘They get a slap on the back.’ Josephine Quintavalle, a co-founder of the pressure group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, praised Mrs Tollefsen’s candour. ‘One has to admire her honesty in coming forward and speaking frankly about the difficulties about being a mother so old,’ she said. ‘We can only hope that this acts as a warning to others who are in their later years and considering having a child.
‘One has to feel sorry for her, because she took advantage of something society offered her. But I think it shows that we need to have a bit more respect for nature, which seems to know how hard it is to look after a child when you are older. There is a very good reason the menopause comes when it does. IVF and egg-donating are creating a lot of unnatural situations.
‘As a society, we have to start to look at all of these issues from the perspective of the child and ask what is best for them. ‘The ideal situation for a child is to be with a two parents who are young and healthy enough to look after them.’
Article: 7th November 2011 www.dailymail.co.uk
Sunday 6 November 2011
AMH test to check your real fertility age
MORE women are delaying motherhood until they are older, so it is helpful to know what your real fertility age is. The average age of those giving birth was 29½ last year – up a year on a decade ago. Almost a quarter of the 2,500 women taking part in Red magazine's national fertility report had problems conceiving. British mums have their first-born later than any other nationality and the number giving birth after 40 has trebled.
Sun Woman asked five women between 25 and 32 to take tests to give a UK snapshot of fertility. The Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) Test gives an estimate of the woman's remaining egg supply, or "ovarian reserve". The shocking results revealed four out of the five women had a LOW egg reserve result.
Here fertility expert Zita West, who runs her own clinic in London, explains why there is no reason to panic and explains how they can improve fertility.
1. Sarah House, 27
Single Sarah, a health and beauty consultant from Broadstairs, Kent, was given an egg reserve count of 18.96, which is considered LOW. Zita says: "For her age, this AMH level is on the low side. "Sarah's BMI indicates that she is slightly overweight. But she exercises, which is a good thing. "Being overweight may interfere with your menstrual cycle, create hormonal imbalance and prevent ovulation. "She admitted she is a smoker and this can damage her eggs so I have advised her to give up." Sarah says: "The results were not what I expected and I was a bit worried. I thought I would be fine because I'm a young person and as far as I know, I have no health problems. "I'm going to focus on my weight and smoking but I'm not going to rush into having a family just because of the test results. "I am not ready to have babies yet. "I want to give up smoking and I'm considering hypnotherapy. "I've been going to the gym a lot and I've joined the weight-loss group Slimming World. "I might try the test again in three years and see what the results are like then. "If I had the finance,I might consider freezing my eggs at that point."
2. Lucy Jones, 32
Single Lucy's egg reserve count was 9.56, which is LOW. She is an accountant and lives in Chalk Farm, North London. Zita says: "Lucy seems to think she may have polycystic ovary syndrome but the AMH result does not reflect this. She should see her GP to discuss her worries, though. "She goes to the gym and it is important that she keeps this up and stays fit and healthy. "I would advise her to think about having a baby sooner rather than later." Lucy says: "I was surprised by how low my results were and it took me a while to process the implications. "I eat very healthily, don't smoke and have regular periods. I will go to the GP like Zita suggests. I've been told to have a baby sooner rather than later. "But I split with my boyfriend of nine years last year and I don't want to rush into a new relationship just to have a baby. "All I can do is take my test results into consideration when I next meet someone. "If I get to the age of 35 or 36 and I'm still single I will have to reassess and make a decision about what I want to do. "There are always options such as egg freezing and adoption. "I will keep myself healthy and in good physical condition as this helps fertility. "I chatted with my mum and at my age she got pregnant so I think this is positive. "I will not worry about the test results.
3. Abby Campbell, 26
Single Abby was given an egg reserve count of 14.70, which is LOW. She is a shop manager from Lincoln. Zita says: "Her egg count is a little low for her age. "Now she is aware that her AMH is slightly lower than average so she may want to think about having children a little earlier. "She doesn't smoke and she exercises regularly. "She should carry on with this healthy lifestyle because it helps to boost her fertility. Abby also needs to discuss with her mother at what age she went through the menopause because women usually follow their mums in this pattern and it would be helpful for Abby to know what to expect. "She also has a low vitamin D count – hers comes in at 37 when it should be more than 50. "She needs to look to try and boost this figure with supplements if possible, because this will help to increase her fertility." Abby says: "I was surprised by the test results I received but I think it is always better to know these things for the future. "I'm not going to rush out and have a baby, though. "I will take Zita's advice and get vitamin D supplements. "I will also be certain to quiz my mother about when she started the menopause and whether she had any underlying fertility problems. "But my test results are not going to change how I am living or what I am doing now."
4. Hannah Shrimpton, 25
Hannah was given an AMH reading of 31.74, which is SATISFACTORY. She owns a cake-making business and lives with her boyfriend of three years in Peckham, South London. Zita says: "I'm happy with Hannah's results and potential future fertility. She is not overweight, seems to lead a very healthy lifestyle and is young. "Hannah said she has been diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition which affects approximately five to ten per cent of women. Tissue from the womb lining grows in other parts of the reproductive tract and some women may have fertility problems." Hannah says: "Suffering from endometriosis, my fertility has always been at the back of my mind and last year I was warned it might be very bad. "I am not thinking of starting a family yet as my career is only just starting, but I will keep healthy. "I had an operation to laser certain cells a few months ago and my symptoms are a lot better. Although I'm not thinking of kids yet, I'm pleased my test was satisfactory."
5. Kellie Blackmore, 31
Bank worker Kellie was given an egg reserve of 17.48, which is LOW. She lives with her boyfriend, truck driver Chris Pope, in Tamworth, Staffs. Zita says: "At Kellie's age you would expect her fertility to be 17, and hers is 17.48, but this is still considered low. "Kellie has a low vitamin D count – it is 37 and she needs to increase it to 50 or above. "Her alcohol intake for the week is 20 units. When trying for a baby, cutting down on alcohol is always good. "Kellie is slightly overweight and needs to lose weight to improve her fertility level. She and her partner spend a lot of time in steam rooms. This needs to be cut down because heat damages a man's sperm." Kellie says: "I didn't know the dangers to fertility in steam rooms. We'll stop that, along with drinking in the week. I'll take vitamin supplements too." "My low vitamin D levels did come as a surprise and I am now taking a supplement. "Because I hope to have children in the future I am stopping drinking in the week. "Me and my boyfriend are also making healthy meals and I will keep going to the gym, to get to a healthier weight."
Article: 2nd November 2011 www.thesun.co.uk
Read more about boosting fertility at Pride Angel
Sun Woman asked five women between 25 and 32 to take tests to give a UK snapshot of fertility. The Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) Test gives an estimate of the woman's remaining egg supply, or "ovarian reserve". The shocking results revealed four out of the five women had a LOW egg reserve result.
Here fertility expert Zita West, who runs her own clinic in London, explains why there is no reason to panic and explains how they can improve fertility.
1. Sarah House, 27
Single Sarah, a health and beauty consultant from Broadstairs, Kent, was given an egg reserve count of 18.96, which is considered LOW. Zita says: "For her age, this AMH level is on the low side. "Sarah's BMI indicates that she is slightly overweight. But she exercises, which is a good thing. "Being overweight may interfere with your menstrual cycle, create hormonal imbalance and prevent ovulation. "She admitted she is a smoker and this can damage her eggs so I have advised her to give up." Sarah says: "The results were not what I expected and I was a bit worried. I thought I would be fine because I'm a young person and as far as I know, I have no health problems. "I'm going to focus on my weight and smoking but I'm not going to rush into having a family just because of the test results. "I am not ready to have babies yet. "I want to give up smoking and I'm considering hypnotherapy. "I've been going to the gym a lot and I've joined the weight-loss group Slimming World. "I might try the test again in three years and see what the results are like then. "If I had the finance,I might consider freezing my eggs at that point."
2. Lucy Jones, 32
Single Lucy's egg reserve count was 9.56, which is LOW. She is an accountant and lives in Chalk Farm, North London. Zita says: "Lucy seems to think she may have polycystic ovary syndrome but the AMH result does not reflect this. She should see her GP to discuss her worries, though. "She goes to the gym and it is important that she keeps this up and stays fit and healthy. "I would advise her to think about having a baby sooner rather than later." Lucy says: "I was surprised by how low my results were and it took me a while to process the implications. "I eat very healthily, don't smoke and have regular periods. I will go to the GP like Zita suggests. I've been told to have a baby sooner rather than later. "But I split with my boyfriend of nine years last year and I don't want to rush into a new relationship just to have a baby. "All I can do is take my test results into consideration when I next meet someone. "If I get to the age of 35 or 36 and I'm still single I will have to reassess and make a decision about what I want to do. "There are always options such as egg freezing and adoption. "I will keep myself healthy and in good physical condition as this helps fertility. "I chatted with my mum and at my age she got pregnant so I think this is positive. "I will not worry about the test results.
3. Abby Campbell, 26
Single Abby was given an egg reserve count of 14.70, which is LOW. She is a shop manager from Lincoln. Zita says: "Her egg count is a little low for her age. "Now she is aware that her AMH is slightly lower than average so she may want to think about having children a little earlier. "She doesn't smoke and she exercises regularly. "She should carry on with this healthy lifestyle because it helps to boost her fertility. Abby also needs to discuss with her mother at what age she went through the menopause because women usually follow their mums in this pattern and it would be helpful for Abby to know what to expect. "She also has a low vitamin D count – hers comes in at 37 when it should be more than 50. "She needs to look to try and boost this figure with supplements if possible, because this will help to increase her fertility." Abby says: "I was surprised by the test results I received but I think it is always better to know these things for the future. "I'm not going to rush out and have a baby, though. "I will take Zita's advice and get vitamin D supplements. "I will also be certain to quiz my mother about when she started the menopause and whether she had any underlying fertility problems. "But my test results are not going to change how I am living or what I am doing now."
4. Hannah Shrimpton, 25
Hannah was given an AMH reading of 31.74, which is SATISFACTORY. She owns a cake-making business and lives with her boyfriend of three years in Peckham, South London. Zita says: "I'm happy with Hannah's results and potential future fertility. She is not overweight, seems to lead a very healthy lifestyle and is young. "Hannah said she has been diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition which affects approximately five to ten per cent of women. Tissue from the womb lining grows in other parts of the reproductive tract and some women may have fertility problems." Hannah says: "Suffering from endometriosis, my fertility has always been at the back of my mind and last year I was warned it might be very bad. "I am not thinking of starting a family yet as my career is only just starting, but I will keep healthy. "I had an operation to laser certain cells a few months ago and my symptoms are a lot better. Although I'm not thinking of kids yet, I'm pleased my test was satisfactory."
5. Kellie Blackmore, 31
Bank worker Kellie was given an egg reserve of 17.48, which is LOW. She lives with her boyfriend, truck driver Chris Pope, in Tamworth, Staffs. Zita says: "At Kellie's age you would expect her fertility to be 17, and hers is 17.48, but this is still considered low. "Kellie has a low vitamin D count – it is 37 and she needs to increase it to 50 or above. "Her alcohol intake for the week is 20 units. When trying for a baby, cutting down on alcohol is always good. "Kellie is slightly overweight and needs to lose weight to improve her fertility level. She and her partner spend a lot of time in steam rooms. This needs to be cut down because heat damages a man's sperm." Kellie says: "I didn't know the dangers to fertility in steam rooms. We'll stop that, along with drinking in the week. I'll take vitamin supplements too." "My low vitamin D levels did come as a surprise and I am now taking a supplement. "Because I hope to have children in the future I am stopping drinking in the week. "Me and my boyfriend are also making healthy meals and I will keep going to the gym, to get to a healthier weight."
Article: 2nd November 2011 www.thesun.co.uk
Read more about boosting fertility at Pride Angel
Friday 4 November 2011
Visit Pride Angel at The Fertility Show London Olympia
The Fertility show, London Olympia started today with many visitors arriving to discuss their infertility concerns and questions with the 100 exhibitors on show. Exhibitors included fertility clinics from within the UK, USA and Europe. Fertility support services, talked about alternative options to IVF, including natural fertility techniques, DuoFertility, Zestica along with Zita West vitamins and many more. Pride Angel was a popular stand today with many more visitors being interested in the opportunity of using known sperm or egg donors as a method of conceiving. Fertility clinics spoke with interest with Pride Angel, as they are seeing many more people taking known donors to clinics for fertility treatment.
Why not take a visit to The Fertility Show tomorrow Saturday 5th November? There will be many interesting seminars, to include the following:
Saturday 12.45-13.30
International Surrogacy
Earlier this year, Channel 4 aired a controversial documentary called Google Baby which followed the journey of embryos, created in a United States fertility clinic from donor sperm and eggs, to India where they were implanted into local surrogates. Dr Gad Lavy who runs New England Fertility, the IVF clinic featured in the film, talks about what's involved in international surrogacy whilst Louisa Ghevaert, partner specialising in fertility and parenting law at UK solicitors Porter Dodson, discusses the complicated legal aspects involved with such arrangements.
Saturday 14.30-15.15
Issues for families created with donors
If you are hoping to use donated sperm, eggs or embryos to start your family, then the issues of what, when and how to tell a child about their genetic origin becomes crucial. This can be even more complicated with the use of anonymous overseas donors. Olivia Montuschi who runs DC Network, an organisation of 1,500 families created with the help of donors, is joined by a donor conceived person to discuss being open with children in these cases.
Saturday 14.45-15.30
Single women and lesbian couples - options for conceiving.
What are the routes open to women who want to conceive without having sex with a man? Dr Carole Gilling-Smith, Medical Director of the Agora Fertility Clinic, explains the practical issues around getting pregnant with donor sperm, including IUI and IVF, whilst Natalie Woods, a lesbian patient of Carole’s who became a mother after treatment and is also a fertility counsellor, goes into some of the issues discussed in counselling as well as providing a patient’s perspective.
Pride Angel will be exhibiting on stand 20, so if you have any questions, why not come along and have a chat, we look forward to seeing you there.
Article: 4th November 2011 www.prideangel.com
Why not take a visit to The Fertility Show tomorrow Saturday 5th November? There will be many interesting seminars, to include the following:
Saturday 12.45-13.30
International Surrogacy
Earlier this year, Channel 4 aired a controversial documentary called Google Baby which followed the journey of embryos, created in a United States fertility clinic from donor sperm and eggs, to India where they were implanted into local surrogates. Dr Gad Lavy who runs New England Fertility, the IVF clinic featured in the film, talks about what's involved in international surrogacy whilst Louisa Ghevaert, partner specialising in fertility and parenting law at UK solicitors Porter Dodson, discusses the complicated legal aspects involved with such arrangements.
Saturday 14.30-15.15
Issues for families created with donors
If you are hoping to use donated sperm, eggs or embryos to start your family, then the issues of what, when and how to tell a child about their genetic origin becomes crucial. This can be even more complicated with the use of anonymous overseas donors. Olivia Montuschi who runs DC Network, an organisation of 1,500 families created with the help of donors, is joined by a donor conceived person to discuss being open with children in these cases.
Saturday 14.45-15.30
Single women and lesbian couples - options for conceiving.
What are the routes open to women who want to conceive without having sex with a man? Dr Carole Gilling-Smith, Medical Director of the Agora Fertility Clinic, explains the practical issues around getting pregnant with donor sperm, including IUI and IVF, whilst Natalie Woods, a lesbian patient of Carole’s who became a mother after treatment and is also a fertility counsellor, goes into some of the issues discussed in counselling as well as providing a patient’s perspective.
Pride Angel will be exhibiting on stand 20, so if you have any questions, why not come along and have a chat, we look forward to seeing you there.
Article: 4th November 2011 www.prideangel.com
Wednesday 2 November 2011
Charlie Condou | Two dads, one mum - one family
One of the great things about my family is that, instead of the usual two parents, Georgia (and baby-to-be) have three. That's three pairs of hands to share the load and, especially given that we're all flexibly self-employed and close friends, it means that life runs pretty smoothly most of the time.
Last month, for example, we decided to make the most of the sudden burst of late-summer weather, as well as the fact that I had a bit of time off from Coronation Street, and all head down to the country for the week. Georgia loved having all her parents (and one set of grandparents) around, and the three of us enjoyed chilling together and spoiling her, making the most of these last few months of "her-only childhood".
Last week I found myself in the highly unusual position of being a single parent. Cam had gone back to Canada for his mum and dad's 50th wedding anniversary, while Catherine had a number of work things to deal with. She's also entering the third trimester of pregnancy, and is at the stage where she tires easily, particularly as an older mother-to-be, so I took Georgia home with me for three days.
Aside from the obvious lone-parenting issues – plonking your child in front of Peppa Pig while you go to the loo with the door open, for example – the biggest difference was being able to create our own timetable.
I didn't have to meet Catherine or Cam for hand-overs or meal times, so Georgia and I could pootle through the day at our own pace, going wherever the mood took us. Because, of course, the down side of three parents is that there are three people's schedules and needs to consider. So, for those few days, much as I love Catherine, much as I miss Cam, having Georgia all to myself was a rare treat.
Yes, I know how spoilt that sounds. I'm sure there are countless single parents reading this and rolling their eyes. I have plenty of friends who really are bring up children alone, so I'm well aware that the reality of single parenting, day in, day out, is that it can be stressful, exhausting and lonely.
The time alone with my daughter felt like a luxury precisely because I don't have to do it all the time. I don't have to struggle out of bed seven days a week, regardless of how I feel, I don't have to juggle work and childcare and shopping and cooking, while trying to cling to the vestiges of a social life. I have it easy and so, when I do get Georgia to myself, I make the most of it. In fact, I wallow in it – playing and snuggling and enjoying every minute of her two-year-old cuteness. The fact that I also have to spend so much time away in Manchester filming the TV show only serves to make time alone with Georgia feel even more like a luxury.
I wonder again how I'll manage to love the new baby with the same ferocity with which I love Georgia. Even though I know rationally that I will, and everyone tells me "babies bring their own love", it still seems unfathomable.
Before Georgia was born, I had a clear picture of what fatherhood would be like, but this time, when I try to think ahead to being a father of two, my imagination fails, and I struggle to see it emotionally or practically. I am excited about the new baby, but I'm apprehensive, too.
Right now, fatherhood feels so perfect that the thought of any change makes me nervous. Then I think about holding my son in my arms, and I know it's going to work out fine.
Article: 29th October 2011 www.guardian.co.uk
Read more about gay and lesbian families at Pride Angel
Last month, for example, we decided to make the most of the sudden burst of late-summer weather, as well as the fact that I had a bit of time off from Coronation Street, and all head down to the country for the week. Georgia loved having all her parents (and one set of grandparents) around, and the three of us enjoyed chilling together and spoiling her, making the most of these last few months of "her-only childhood".
Last week I found myself in the highly unusual position of being a single parent. Cam had gone back to Canada for his mum and dad's 50th wedding anniversary, while Catherine had a number of work things to deal with. She's also entering the third trimester of pregnancy, and is at the stage where she tires easily, particularly as an older mother-to-be, so I took Georgia home with me for three days.
Aside from the obvious lone-parenting issues – plonking your child in front of Peppa Pig while you go to the loo with the door open, for example – the biggest difference was being able to create our own timetable.
I didn't have to meet Catherine or Cam for hand-overs or meal times, so Georgia and I could pootle through the day at our own pace, going wherever the mood took us. Because, of course, the down side of three parents is that there are three people's schedules and needs to consider. So, for those few days, much as I love Catherine, much as I miss Cam, having Georgia all to myself was a rare treat.
Yes, I know how spoilt that sounds. I'm sure there are countless single parents reading this and rolling their eyes. I have plenty of friends who really are bring up children alone, so I'm well aware that the reality of single parenting, day in, day out, is that it can be stressful, exhausting and lonely.
The time alone with my daughter felt like a luxury precisely because I don't have to do it all the time. I don't have to struggle out of bed seven days a week, regardless of how I feel, I don't have to juggle work and childcare and shopping and cooking, while trying to cling to the vestiges of a social life. I have it easy and so, when I do get Georgia to myself, I make the most of it. In fact, I wallow in it – playing and snuggling and enjoying every minute of her two-year-old cuteness. The fact that I also have to spend so much time away in Manchester filming the TV show only serves to make time alone with Georgia feel even more like a luxury.
I wonder again how I'll manage to love the new baby with the same ferocity with which I love Georgia. Even though I know rationally that I will, and everyone tells me "babies bring their own love", it still seems unfathomable.
Before Georgia was born, I had a clear picture of what fatherhood would be like, but this time, when I try to think ahead to being a father of two, my imagination fails, and I struggle to see it emotionally or practically. I am excited about the new baby, but I'm apprehensive, too.
Right now, fatherhood feels so perfect that the thought of any change makes me nervous. Then I think about holding my son in my arms, and I know it's going to work out fine.
Article: 29th October 2011 www.guardian.co.uk
Read more about gay and lesbian families at Pride Angel
Monday 31 October 2011
National Adoption Week: have you ever considered adopting a child?
Today is the start of National Adoption Week – Have you ever considering adopting a child? Thousands of children are taken into care every year. Of these many are never lucky enough to become part of a secure loving long-term family. This important week reminds us there are kids out there waiting to be taken in by someone who will make them part of their own family and give them the ‘forever home’ they are longing for.
If you have ever considered the option of adopting, you need to be over 21, patient, and dedicated to offering someone lifelong love and support. It's a huge responsibility, but one that comes with great rewards. For more information about the adoption process click here.
The campaign also asks adopted people over 18 and parents of adopted children to come forward and help out. Possible activities include writing to your local newspaper; putting up posters; writing an adoption blog; doing your own fundraising challenge, or rounding up loved ones to talk them about your individual experiences with adoption. For more information on how you can help, go to the National Adoption Week website for more information.
Also in celebration of National Adoption Week 2011 they are encouraging anyone who is over 18 and has a connection with adoption to enter a short film. It has to be creative and inspiring – you don’t have to own professional equipment to take part, it could even be filmed on a mobile phone. None of that matters – all that matters is that it stands out and fulfils the aims. Once the winner is announced the winner will be awarded in London. Click here for competition details.
If adoption isn’t for you, have you ever considered having a family through co-parenting or using a known sperm or egg donor? Visit www.prideangel.com for more information
If you have ever considered the option of adopting, you need to be over 21, patient, and dedicated to offering someone lifelong love and support. It's a huge responsibility, but one that comes with great rewards. For more information about the adoption process click here.
The campaign also asks adopted people over 18 and parents of adopted children to come forward and help out. Possible activities include writing to your local newspaper; putting up posters; writing an adoption blog; doing your own fundraising challenge, or rounding up loved ones to talk them about your individual experiences with adoption. For more information on how you can help, go to the National Adoption Week website for more information.
Also in celebration of National Adoption Week 2011 they are encouraging anyone who is over 18 and has a connection with adoption to enter a short film. It has to be creative and inspiring – you don’t have to own professional equipment to take part, it could even be filmed on a mobile phone. None of that matters – all that matters is that it stands out and fulfils the aims. Once the winner is announced the winner will be awarded in London. Click here for competition details.
If adoption isn’t for you, have you ever considered having a family through co-parenting or using a known sperm or egg donor? Visit www.prideangel.com for more information
Sunday 30 October 2011
WIN £100 and chance to perform at Yorkshire’s Award-Winning Pride festival!
Calderdale Pride and Bar Place will be teaming up for the first heat of Pride’s Got Talent on Saturday 3rd December.
Pride Secretary Vikki Kitson said “We’re opening things up this time around and giving people a say in who and what they want to see onstage at Pride 2012”.
“This contest is a first for us, and we’re especially keen to invite bands, singers, dancers, comedians, drag and cabaret acts along”. “The audience on the night will be invited to vote for their favourite performer or performers, with the winner or winners of the first heat going through to the semi-finals in February”.
“If you consider yourself to be a natural talent or even if you just enjoy performing for fun, then please contact us to register”. The overall winner of Calderdale Pride’s Got Talent will win themselves a £100 cash prize and the opportunity to perform centre-stage at Calderdale Pride 2012 on Saturday 16th June.
“Over 9,000 people attended Calderdale Pride in 2011, and we fully expect to match that in 2012. This is an incredible opportunity for anyone who wants to perform in a great venue before a fantastic crowd, and alongside an incredible stage line-up” Vikki added.
The first heat will be held at Bar Place Hotel and Restaurant, Hebden Bridge on Saturday 3rd December from 7.30pm. All entrants must be over 18 years of age.
Vikki can be contacted by email at: calderdalepridesecretary@o2email.co.uk
Pride Secretary Vikki Kitson said “We’re opening things up this time around and giving people a say in who and what they want to see onstage at Pride 2012”.
“This contest is a first for us, and we’re especially keen to invite bands, singers, dancers, comedians, drag and cabaret acts along”. “The audience on the night will be invited to vote for their favourite performer or performers, with the winner or winners of the first heat going through to the semi-finals in February”.
“If you consider yourself to be a natural talent or even if you just enjoy performing for fun, then please contact us to register”. The overall winner of Calderdale Pride’s Got Talent will win themselves a £100 cash prize and the opportunity to perform centre-stage at Calderdale Pride 2012 on Saturday 16th June.
“Over 9,000 people attended Calderdale Pride in 2011, and we fully expect to match that in 2012. This is an incredible opportunity for anyone who wants to perform in a great venue before a fantastic crowd, and alongside an incredible stage line-up” Vikki added.
The first heat will be held at Bar Place Hotel and Restaurant, Hebden Bridge on Saturday 3rd December from 7.30pm. All entrants must be over 18 years of age.
Vikki can be contacted by email at: calderdalepridesecretary@o2email.co.uk
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