Maryland gay couples celebrate new year by getting married

Numerous gay couples across Maryland will be celebrating the New Year with a bumper toast as they share the occasion with their marriages, the first to be conducted following a referendum to legislate for marriage equality. The US state of Maryland voted in favour of civil equal marriage in November with 52.4% of voters backing equality. In the run up to the vote, Hollywood actor Brad Pitt agreed to donate $100,000 (£62,000) to help the Human Rights Campaign raise money for its efforts to support equal marriage initiatives in several US states, including Maryland. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who previously studied in the state, also donated $250,000 (£155,000) to the pro-marriage equality campaign in Maryland last week. A bill to legalise same-sex marriage in Maryland was passed by the state General Assembly in February 2012 and signed into law on 1 March 2012, by Governor Martin O’Malley. However, opponents of marriage equality successfully gathered enough signatures to force a referendum on the decision. In Baltimore, the state’s largest city, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will attend ceremonies at City Hall. Same-sex couples celebrated the first equal marriages in the state of Maine on the 29 December. Article: 31st December 2012 www.pinknews.co.uk The Pride Angel team wishes you all a very Happy New Year!

Top ten unsual baby names of 2012

Popular Disney characters’ names have topped the list of unusual names given to babies born in 2012. While names like Belle or Jasmine and boys names Peter or Donald spring to mind those aren’t the ones being chosen. Instead parents are opting for Tinkerbell and Nemo as names for their children. Other quirky names on the list include Star, Bliss, Pyper, Buttercup and Kizzie for girls while River, Blade, Buzz-Bee, Storm and Zico rank high for boys. But traditionalists need not fear, as the most popular names given to both boys and girls sound a great deal more familiar. Old-school, traditional names topped the overall baby names list in the UK for 2012. The top names for boys and girls were Ethan and Eva, respectively. The big themes predicted for 2013 are ancient names and Roman Gods, sparked by The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones. Parenting website Bounty.com put the list of unusual names together from the birth certificates of 430,000 babies born in the UK this year. A spokesperson said: “Parents are being creative and wanting their children to stand out from the crowd with unusual names. “Some parents chose unusual names because they don’t want their child to share the same name as others at school. The desire for classroom ‘standout’ is certainly a growing trend.” The spokesperson added: “Today’s baby trends change quickly and names that first seem unusual can quickly become common in the classroom. “Generally speaking, whatever name a child is given they usually grow up to make it their own.” The most unusual baby names of 2012 1. Tinkerbell - Girl 2. Nemo - Boy 3. Sailor - Boy 4. Buzz-Bee - Boy 5. Zed - Boy 6. Blade - Boy 7. Zico - Boy 8. Diesel – Boy 9. Buttercup- Girl 10. Bliss – Girl Article: 28th December 2012 www.uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com

Three in five voters are in support of gay marriage

More than three in five voters support David Cameron's wish to introduce gay marriage, according to a poll conducted for the Guardian. The strong backing for a change in the law comes after the archbishop of Westminster queried the democratic legitimacy of the coalition plans. Vincent Nichols, head of the Roman Catholic church in England and Wales, used a strident Christmas Day message to blast the "shambolic" process that could soon put provision for same-sex weddings on the statute book. "There was no announcement in any party manifesto; there's been no green paper; there's been no statement in the Queen's speech. And yet here we are on the verge of primary legislation," Nichols told the BBC. The plans also came under fire from a high court judge, who said the government should instead be looking at the "crisis of family breakdown". Sir Paul Coleridge said too much time and energy had been put into the debate on gay marriage for "0.1% of the population". The ICM poll conducted just before Christmas found 62% of voters now support the proposals, with half this number – 31% – opposed. Most previous polls have found opinion leaning the same way, although the two-to-one margin revealed on Wednesday is particularly emphatic. An ICM online survey for the Sunday Telegraph in March asked the identical question – which expressly reminds people that the option of civil partnerships already exists for gay couples – and established a 45%-36% lead for the reformers. That significant hardening of opinion during the year will encourage Cameron, whose embrace of gay marriage has proved controversial, not only with religious leaders but also with the Tory backbench. And the new poll reveals a particularly significant swing towards the reform among the Tory base. Although Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters remain more likely to support gay marriage, with respective majorities of 67% and 71%, there is now also a majority among Conservative supporters. Among those who voted Tory in 2010, gay marriage now enjoys 52%-42% backing, a big turnaround from ICM's survey in March, which recorded 50%-35% opposition from 2010 Conservative voters. Both men and women support gay marriage, although the majority is bigger among female voters, 65% of whom support gay marriage, compared with 58% of men. Gay marriage is backed by 60%+ majorities across every nation and region, the 74% majority recorded in Wales being the most emphatic. There is a pro-gay-marriage majority, too, in every social class – although the majority is somewhat smaller in the DE class, which contains the lowest occupational grades. Fifty-one per cent of this group is in favour of the change, as opposed to 68% in the C1 clerical grade, which emerges as the most enthusiastic. Sharper differences emerge when the results are analysed across the age ranges. The over-65s resist the proposal, by 58% to 37%, but support is progressively stronger in younger age groups. The pro-reform majority is 64% among 35-64s, 75% among 25-34s, and an overwhelming 77% among 18-24s. The results will encourage the view of Cameron and the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, who has also set significant store by the proposal, that they are on the right side of history. But with opinion moving so fast in favour of gay marriage, enthusiasts on Wednesday demanded to know why the government had provided for such sweeping exemptions for religious groups. Among other things these provide for a wholesale exemption for the Church of England, such that – were the currently opposed C of E to embrace gay marriage at some later date – fresh legislation would be required to extend the reform to it. As the Guardian poll findings were released, the Liberal Democrat minister Lynne Featherstone said that Roman Catholic leaders who were attacking the government's gay marriage plans were being "shameful". In a Boxing Day post on her blog, she singled out comments from Nichols and from the Rt Rev Mark Davies, the Roman Catholic bishop of Shrewsbury, and said they wrong to suggest that churches would be forced to conduct gay weddings and wrong to dismiss the policy as illegitimate on the grounds that the coalition did not have a mandate for it. "It is very disappointing that religious leaders who object so forcefully to equal marriage seem to have so little faith in their own beliefs," said Featherstone, an international development minister who used to be minister for equalities. "If their religious beliefs are that marriage can only be between a man and a woman – they should have the confidence in their flocks to believe that too. And if it is their own flocks' potential for disagreeing with them that is their real fear – then that is a matter for religious leaders and their congregations to sort out." Article: 26th December 2012 www.guardian.co.uk

Merry Christmas 2012 from the Pride Angel Team

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. Thank you for all your support over 2012 and your wonderful stories of good news and miracle Pride Angel babies. 2012 has also been a fantastic year, as we have loved receiving all your beautiful baby photos. Choosing the winners was such a difficult decision. To view our recent competition winners click here. If you are just starting on the journey to becoming parents, we send our best wishes and wish you happiness for the future. Happy Christmas and heres to a fantastic year in 2013

Changing the law for gay marriage will benefit children of gay parents

The Chief Executive of Barnardo’s, Anne Marie Carrie, has welcomed the government’s decision to allow gay couples to marry from 2013. Writing for PinkNews.co.uk, she says it will be of enormous benefit to gay parents and their children. Amid the debate around equal marriage rights for gay couples, very little has been said about the importance of this move for children and young people. On Father’s Day, Barnardo’s announced it supported gay marriage. This won’t have come as a surprise to anyone who was aware of our campaign to have more gay couples come forward as foster carers or adoptive parents. Equality and respect are at the very heart of Barnardo’s basis and values because we believe every person is different but equal. And throughout this debate, I have been saddened that so little attention has given to some very important people: the children and young people who live with gay parents or carers. We work with some wonderful same-sex couples who offer stable and loving homes to children and young people, and I believe offering those couples the right to marry would help them and their children feel even more accepted and included. Because, for me, this debate touches on two very important issues – homophobic bullying of young people, and Barnardo’s efforts to find loving homes for vulnerable children. Equalisation of marriage could have a big impact in both of these areas, and that is why I am speaking up again. Barnardo’s works with 200,000 vulnerable young people every year, and many of the young gay people we work with have told us that homophobic bullying is a major concern for them. Equalising marriage will not solve this problem, but it will contribute towards a society in which sexual orientation is not a barrier to acceptance for young people. Equalising marriage will also send a message to potential gay parents and carers, that if they want to start a family they will have the same options for legal recognition as heterosexual couples. Barnardo’s leads in encouraging people of all orientations to consider becoming adopters or foster carers. When the number of children being taken into care is growing, it’s not just right that we do this but vital. I feel it is difficult for schools or, indeed, the government to promote genuine equality for gay couples when the law makes an unnecessary distinction between them and heterosexual couples. As the debate rumbles on, I hope more consideration will be given to the UK’s gay parents and carers and, of course, their children. Because the current law on marriage doesn’t just discriminate against couples but entire families. Article: 14th December 2012 www.pinknews.co.uk

Looking for a sperm donor? make sure he has lots of brothers

If you are seeking a man who will give you a big family, first make sure you count how many brothers he has. The greater the number of male siblings your husband has, the more fertile he is likely to be, scientists say. They have discovered that men with mostly brothers are likely to be more productive. The findings, published in the Asian Journal of Andrology, also support the theory that parents with genes for good male fertility are more likely to have boys. Normally, in Britain 105 boys are born for every 100 girls. Experts from the University of Sheffield assessed 500 men and compared the travelling speed of their sperm with their family make-up. Dr Allan Pacey, one of the researchers from the University of Sheffield, said: ‘We found the greater number of brothers rather than sisters a man has, the faster his sperm is, increasing the likelihood of fertility. Lots of brothers is also an indication that the man’s parents have strong male fertility genes, and they would then be passed on to the son. ‘The results are very surprising and could provide genetic insights into why some men are more fertile than others.’ The research did not give any clues as to how to treat male infertility, Dr Pacey said. ‘It does, however, give food for thought about the importance of genetics for sperm motility and may open the way to more studies in this area,’ he added. Sperm activity or ‘motility’ is known to be a major factor influencing male fertility. Jon Slate, professor of evolutionary genetics at the University of Sheffield, said: ‘We are very intrigued by this finding and hope other researchers examine their data sets in a similar fashion. ‘If our results can be replicated we think it provides some evidence that humans have experienced what evolutionary biologists like to call “sexual conflict”. The idea behind this is that genes that make males reproductively successful make females reproductively unsuccessful, and vice versa.’ The researchers said it did not mean men with a large number of sisters should worry, and they did not look at whether women with lots of sisters are likely to be more fertile, as it is much more difficult to measure. But Dr Jim Mossman, postdoctoral researcher at Brown University in the US, who led the study, said the findings may indicate that women with lots of female siblings are likely to be more fertile. ‘This is certainly not a smoking gun as a reason for infertility in men,’ he said. ‘However, it would be interesting to test whether the same relationships are observed in other human populations as well as in other species. Likewise, would we observe similar associations when looking at female fertility? ‘If the relationship between sex-bias in the number of children and fertility is a more universal phenomenon, then we may expect female fertility to follow a similar pattern, albeit in the opposite direction.’ Article: 19th December 2012 www.dailymail.co.uk

The length of a man's sperm affects fertility

Men have a better chance of having children if they have semen teeming with strong-swimmers. Now fertility experts say they have found a good indicator of what makes sperm good movers in the first place. A study from Brown University in Rhode Island, found sperm that had tails of a similar length were better able to travel than those with tails of varying lengths. The team led by James Mossmon were surprised to find that tail consistency trumped average length. The findings add to our understanding of why some couples struggle to have children. Around one in six couples may have difficulty conceiving in the UK - which is around 3.5million people. Couples are recommended to visit their GP if they have not conceived after one year of trying, or sooner if the woman is aged over 35. For the study, researchers from Brown University in Rhode Island examined the semen of 103 men attending an infertility clinic at Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. They found that the wider the variation of sperm length in samples, the lower the concentration of motile sperm. The variation in tail length was found to be the most crucial factor. Writing in the journal Human Reproduction, the scientists said: 'Sperm length measurements may provide a useful insight into testis function and the efficiency of spermatogenesis (sperm cell development).' It is another piece in the jigsaw that explains why only one per cent of the 300million sperm released by a man during sex manages to reach their partner's uterus, while just a few dozen reach the egg. Research published earlier this year from the University of Warwick and University of Birmingham revealed sperm has an appalling sense of direction. The team injected sperm cells into hair-thin microchannels to study how they behaved in confined spaces. They found sperm avoid the 'middle lane' of the female reproductive tract and instead crawl along the channel walls. They also struggle to turn sharp corners and crash into the walls and each other in a scene reminiscent of a demolition derby. Only one sperm enters a woman's ovum as afterwards the cell membrane of the egg hardens and the remaining sperm die. Article: 18th December 2012 www.dailymail.co.uk

Egg donors, recipients and a fertility doctor share their stories

The Guardian speaks to egg donors, recipients and a fertility doctor to find out what it is really like to experience the gift of egg donation. In the last few years, the backdrop to egg donation has changed a lot. Since 2005, sperm and egg donors remain anonymous to the intended parents, but the child can now find out non-identifying information about its donor at 16, and more detailed information, including name and address, when it reaches 18. Although the numbers of egg donors didn't collapse after this, as feared, fewer new donors registered and there has been a shortage as demand has increased – around 1,300 women every year in the UK are treated with donated eggs – with waiting lists of around a year at some clinics, which has resulted in many women and couples seeking treatment abroad. Earlier this year, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) introduced a £750 compensation fee to women who donate their eggs – a recognition of the invasive and time-consuming process – which has resulted in shorter waiting times at many clinics. The recipient Sarah, 45 Gave birth to daughter Emma, who was conceived using eggs from an altruistic donor, in August 2010. Lives with husband Robert near London. A miscarriage at 38, though devastating, gave them hope, says Sarah, sitting across the dining table in her home with Robert, while their daughter, surrounded by toys, plays nearby. But after two years nothing had happened. "Every month you have to pick yourself up and say, 'it will be next month'," she says. Sarah went through two cycles of IVF, both unsuccessful, so her consultant raised the possibility of using eggs donated by another woman. "I talked to women online who had children using donor eggs and that gave me some confidence," she says, "but I still had blips. I would think, 'what happens if it feels completely wrong?'" They signed up for the waiting list at their clinic and four months later were matched with an egg donor. "We were given her eye and hair colour, height and blood group," says Sarah, "and given a couple of days to think about it. All I could think about was the fact that her hair was a bit lighter than mine. But when you only have a few things to go on, they become momentous." She phoned her mother, who tried to reassure her. "I put the phone down and I suddenly thought – [the donor] is someone who doesn't know me, might never know me, and yet she is prepared to go through all this to help a complete stranger. If I wanted a child to inherit a characteristic, would it be my hair colour, or would it be being that selfless and wonderful a person?" Sarah and her husband were given five eggs, and four embryos were created; two were implanted. They didn't work. She describes it as "a huge crash". Then the other two embryos were implanted. An early scan a few weeks later showed two heartbeats, but shortly afterwards one of the twins died. They didn't buy anything for the baby until Sarah was in her 25th week of pregnancy. And then came Emma. "I think of my donor every day," she says. "On Saturday, Emma was holding hands with her cousin at his fifth birthday party and delighting my parents with her newly-learned words. Our donor didn't just bring joy into our lives, but into the lives of everyone who means the most to us." I ask Robert if he was ever worried they would have different feelings about the child – the child would be genetically related to him, but not his wife. "I actually never thought of the baby as being anything other than ours," he says. "But I can understand that Sarah feels more of an affinity with our donor. I knew that our donor's egg was smaller than a pinprick and it would be Sarah who would help those cells grow into a baby." They will start to introduce Emma to the idea of how she was conceived in the next year or two (they show me a picture book they got from the Donor Conception Network, an organisation that supports families whose children were conceived using donor eggs or sperm). They believe Emma has several half-siblings (the donor had children of her own, and her eggs were shared with at least one other family). Are they prepared for how their lives might expand if Emma decides she would like to meet the woman who donated her eggs? Sarah nods. "It will be up to her – she might not be interested. But I would love to meet the woman one day and say thank you." The donor Shelley Lawson, 36 Full-time mother of two, lives in southern England with her husband. She donated 11 eggs in 2008. What makes a woman willingly undergo an invasive procedure, all for a complete stranger? Shelley Lawson seems to find the question strange. "It was no more profound than 'I can help'," she says. "I knew I was young enough to be able to donate eggs – I was 33 and you had to be under 35. Because we didn't have any problem conceiving, I thought it would be likely to be successful." According to HFEA records, Lawson was one of 554 non-patient egg donors that year (another 681 women who were already undergoing fertility treatment shared their eggs with other women who needed them in return for free or cheaper treatment). The most recent figures, for 2010, show numbers are similar, with 592 altruistic donors. The local hospital where she registered gave Lawson and her husband a lot of counselling. "They were obviously anxious we had thought through every possible ethical ramification about the issues of anonymity being lifted. They didn't put any pressure on us." After signing up, she was sent a daunting pack of needles and hormones and injected herself with the drugs every day for three weeks. Lawson was warned about possible side effects such as headaches, mood swings and nausea, but says she only experienced some bloating. Even after a short general anaesthetic, during which 11 of her eggs were retrieved, she only experienced a few abdominal cramps. "The hospital kept me informed. I remember the phone call that said: 'Good news, one of them is pregnant.' It was a huge relief. I did feel a responsibility. They will have tried everything else, done several rounds of IVF at great expense, waited for ages for these eggs. I felt desperate for it to work." Lawson knows that one child has been born using her eggs, but isn't aware of any others. Does she feel as if she has a son or daughter out there somewhere? She shakes her head. "I wouldn't use those words. If we were ever to meet them, I think we would feel they are part of the family, but I don't feel maternal towards them. That would probably be the biggest thing for anyone contemplating this to reconcile themselves with. But the benefits so outweigh any small anxieties. You would hope they have come from a very loving home because of the efforts their parents went through to have them." Lawson says she thinks about the child she knows was born every few months: "We were encouraged to write a letter to any future children, just outlining why we did it and a little bit about our family. We explained that we love being parents and we wanted to give another family the chance to be parents too. We explained about our children. We said we would love to hear from you if you would like it." She wrote a similar letter to her own children, which echoed the same things. "We will probably tell them when they are old enough that any children born from this will be approaching the age where they might find out, so it doesn't come out of the blue. They are too young now – I don't want them to misunderstand why we did it, or feel it was any reflection of how we feel about them." If she had been younger, she says, she would have donated again. "It's a little more involved than donating blood, but it's fundamentally the same thing: it's something my body doesn't need any more that other people can use." But doesn't the genetic component make it feel very different? No blood donor will turn up in the future, perhaps seeking a relationship. "But that's really positive," she says. "To be a part of someone else's life in any respect is a privilege." The doctor Gillian Lockwood Medical director of the Midlands fertility services. Dr Lockwood, who has worked in fertility medicine for more than 20 years, has the manner you would want in a doctor – warm, but direct. Since 1992, 192 babies have been born at this clinic using donor eggs. Donations for strangers were always uncommon, she says – eggs donated from female relatives were more usual, as was egg sharing. When the payment of £750 per cycle was announced last year, Lockwood says there was a flurry of interest from young women. "But when it was explained what was actually involved, the majority of would-be paid egg donors decide it's not for them. I've always been very concerned that we make it clear to donors, particularly if they haven't completed their own families or even started yet, that although modern IVF is very safe, it still does carry some risks." In the UK, the number of women treated using donor eggs has hovered around 1,300 every year since 2007. For the recipient women and couples, "it's still a very big jump for a couple to go from recognising they need fertility treatment, to being prepared to use donor gametes." Some people are very particular about the characteristics they want their child to have, "but normally by the time people have made that big emotional jump, they're not going to be picky about hair colour. If they are holding out for a tall blonde who is good at tennis, they're going to have to go to America, go through the catalogues and pay $20,000 an egg." Matching for people from ethnic minorities is more difficult, she says, "because gamete donation is not something that is practised in most of the ethnic minorities. That may be why people are increasingly going to India – because it can be kept secret, but also because they can get eggs of the appropriate ethnic match." Lockwood, who is ethics spokesperson for the British Fertility Society, thinks the legal framework surrounding egg donation still has some way to go. "Since they didn't make it legal for parents to tell their donor-conceived children, we know that the majority aren't told and won't find out." If the parents of a child need to find out medical information for their child, for instance, they can apply to the HFEA. "Although donor-conceived children, if they know, have rights to identifying information, it's not reciprocal. Many of the women I have spoken to about egg sharing have said, quite reasonably: 'What do I tell my own children?'" Lockwood says. "If I tell them I was an egg donor and their half brother or sister never wants to get in touch, that will leave a vacuum; if I don't tell them and suddenly 18 years down the line a stranger gets in touch, how destructive could that be?" The other big question, she says, is why women are in need of donor eggs in the first place. "It's because society isn't making it possible for women to have babies naturally at the time nature intended. Certainly a lot of the women I see simply didn't meet the right person at the right time, but it's still amazing, in spite of compulsory science in the national curriculum, how many women – and men – think that 35 is a good time to start trying." The recipient (2) Ruth, 37 Lives in the Midlands with her partner and nine-month-old son Jack, who was conceived at a clinic in Greece. Ruth sits in a room at the back of her house on a quiet estate, overlooking the garden, her son on her lap. They share similar colouring, and people have told Ruth how much her son looks like her. "I think it's something people tend to say, but it's nice that I get it as much as people who have a genetically-related child," she says. Ruth decided to try for children when she was in her early 30s. Being in a relationship with a woman, "I started thinking about how to go about it. I knew someone who always said he would be happy to help, but when nothing happened after a good few tries, I thought I should have some investigations." The NHS isn't very helpful if you're not in a 'proper' relationship, so I had to have them privately" [draft guidelines published in May means IVF may soon be available to same-sex couples on the NHS]. Tests found Ruth had been through an early menopause. An egg-share was suggested, but Ruth says she didn't like the idea that her baby could have full siblings living in the same area, probably born around the same time, as the egg-share would be done with someone at the same clinic. "I know the chance of siblings running into each other are very low, but I thought I would rather not have to worry about it," she says. "I could go abroad and limit the chance of there being any genetic relations nearby." Her partner is older than her, "so it was always going to be me who would try for a baby. We thought about swapping when it became clear we would need to have an egg donor, but my job is better for maternity leave and I was keener to experience pregnancy." They went to a clinic in Spain first – she says there were lots of British people there seeking treatment – but "it felt like a conveyor-belt and I didn't feel happy there". She then found a clinic she liked in Greece. Ruth was able to tell them what she hoped for in a donor. "I quite liked the idea of someone with a similar academic background – someone who went to university. I found out a fair bit about her, like physical characteristics, health and personality." She went through a similar process to choose a sperm donor. The anonymity was a concern, she says. "I gave it a lot of thought. Is it fair on a baby not to know its genetic parents? I would have preferred the system like here, where he could contact the genetic parents if he felt like it. There is the opportunity if the clinic is still in touch with the woman to try and find out more, but there's no guarantee. But then there's no guarantee now that people will be traceable in 18 years in the UK." Ruth has told few people about Jack's origin – only trusted friends, but not her family. "I didn't think my family, especially the older generation, would have coped very well," she says."I want to be open with him when he is old enough. The older generation maybe won't be around, or won't want to know so much and the younger generation, my siblings, probably won't have a problem. Does she worry they would treat Jack differently if they knew? "Possibly. He might not feel as much their own grandchild. Maybe I'm underestimating them, but I thought 'I'm not going to go through that.'" Did she worry the baby wouldn't feel like hers? "It would have been nice if it was genetically my own child, with some genetic link to my family, but I was always reasonably relaxed about genetics. I'm a believer in nurture. I feel so grateful [to the donor] but now I think about it very rarely. He feels like mine, and I always suspected he would." Article: 13th December 2012 www.m.guardian.co.uk

Women shocked to find they need IVF at age 40 to conceive

Nearly half of women who became pregnant through in vitro fertilization (IVF) after age 40 say they were "shocked" to discover they needed fertility treatments, a new study finds. In the study, the researchers at the University of California, San Francisco interviewed women from 61 families — including heterosexual couples, lesbian couples and single women — who conceived and delivered children via IVF after age 40. The interviews were done between 2009 and 2011. "We found that women did not have a clear understanding of the age at which fertility begins to decline," the researchers wrote in their study, published online Nov. 30 in the journal Human Reproduction. Most women thought their fertility would last longer than it did. For instance, 31 percent said they expected to get pregnant without difficulty at age 40. "Very few participants had considered the possibility that they would need IVF, and 44 percent reported being ‘shocked’ and ‘alarmed’ to discover that their understandings of the rapidity of age-related reproductive decline were inaccurate," the researchers wrote. However, fewer than a quarter of these women said they would have tried to get pregnant earlier if they had more information about declining fertility, the study found. For women in the study, "personal-life circumstances would not have encouraged them to begin childbearing earlier than they did," the researchers wrote. Along with a decline in the chance of conceiving naturally, the chance of successfully having a baby via IVF also declines with age — the chance of success with one cycle of IVF treatment drops from 41 percent at age 35, to 4 percent after age 42. Studies have shown the general public is not aware of the extent of this decline, the researchers said. Three-quarters of the women said they felt lucky about successfully conceiving through IVF. The researchers noted that their study participants were a selected group of women, and the study was retrospective. Studies that follow women forward over time, and test other populations are needed to confirm the results. According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, infertility affects nearly 12 percent of reproductive-age women in the U.S. Part of the reason for this is cultural trend of women delaying childbearing, according to the study. One in five women now has her first child after age 35, an eightfold increase compared with a generation ago. When the researchers probed into why the study participants held mistaken beliefs about fertility, 28 percent said that incorrect information from friends, doctors or the media reinforced the idea that older women could easily become pregnant. For example, a 42-year-old woman recalled thinking, "Everyone’s having babies at 42 … all the superstars are having them," according to the study. About a quarter of participants said their beliefs stemmed from messages about preventing pregnancy they had received since adolescence. One woman wrote, "It’s like, all of our lives we’re terrified we’re going to get pregnant too soon and have a child and ruin our lives … and, actually, it’s not that easy." A quarter of participants also said their beliefs were based on their mothers’, sisters’ or their own previous fertility. It remains unclear exactly what can be done to better educate women about fertility. Researchers have been slow to get information about fertility declines out to the public, according to the study. For example, a 1982 report from French researchers was the first large study to show a decline in artificial insemination success rates as women aged, but it wasn't until 2000 that the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) recommended that women over 35 trying to conceive be counseled and treated more quickly than younger women. And messages about declining fertility could also have "unwelcome social implications," the researchers said. A public education campaign that the ASRM undertook between 2000 and 2002 was criticized for pressuring women to have children before they were ready, and for undermining women's efforts to become educated and have careers. However, the trend of women delaying childbearing has continued, and data show that IVF can only partly offset fertility declines. "These projections make a case for renewed attempts to educate women and men about the known parameters of fertility at all life stages," the researchers wrote. Article: 10th December 2012 www.livescience.com

Sperm donor steps up to be known by donor offspring

Sperm donor in Australia who donated in 1979 wants to meet his donor conceived children. PETER Liston has led a full life. He is a father of three, grandfather of two, and has travelled the world extensively as a professional gambler, making millions along the way. However, there is one thing Mr Liston would like to do before he dies: meet the children he helped create as a sperm donor in 1979. As a young school teacher, happily married with one child at the time, he made 10 donations on the condition he would remain anonymous. He was paid $100 to cover his costs. Since then, he has often wondered what became of his contribution. In 2002, he decided to enter his details on a voluntary register for people conceived through sperm donation, in case there were children who wanted to look him up. He also asked the Royal Women's Hospital if any children had been born from his donations. He was delighted by the response. ''They wrote back and told me I had two boys in one family, aged 21 and 18, and a girl in a second family, aged 20,'' he said. ''I have three adult children of my own and they were as excited as I was at the prospect of possibly meeting their half-siblings. Sadly, none of them have made contact through the registry to this stage, but we remain hopeful.'' Mr Liston would love to meet these people and know if they share similarities with him and his children. One thing that might stand out, he said, was a propensity for mathematics. The trained accountant is a member of Australian Mensa and all his children have done accounting degrees, too. ''I think it would be like discovering a nephew or a niece … Genes are incredibly strong, so you'd expect to see not just similar personality traits but similar lifestyle choices as well,'' he said. Mr Liston has never been concerned about his privacy or the prospect of recipient families trying to contact him. While his wife was ''cool'' on the idea at the time he donated, he wanted to be able to meet the offspring one day. The views of sperm donors such as Mr Liston are suddenly in demand. In October, the Victorian government said it wanted to hear from people who donated sperm and eggs before 1998 because it was considering a law change that would allow donor-conceived people to gain access to identifying information about their donors. This may come with a ''contact veto'', which would allow people to access information but not contact the donor. At the moment, the law varies depending on when donations were made. Victorians conceived using sperm donated after 1998 have unconditional access to information about their donors, but those conceived between July 1, 1988, and the end of 1997 can access information if their donor consents. People conceived before 1988 cannot get identifying information about their donors. In October, the state government said a law reform committee set up to examine the issue had only heard from nine donors about the proposal for more access, so it commissioned the Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority (VARTA) to canvass more views on the matter. Some doctors have objected to the proposal, saying disregard for previous anonymity provisions would undermine the public's trust in the medical profession. But many donor-conceived people say their right to know about their donors should prevail over concerns about donor privacy. Mr Liston is on their side. He believes the rights of donor-conceived people should be paramount because genetic information is becoming more and more useful in medicine. ''Openness and honesty may be awkward at first, but ultimately I believe it would benefit all parties,'' he said. It is unclear how many donors feel the same way. VARTA says its consultation with donors will be conducted in confidence and people will not be identified when it reports its findings back to the government. Article: 9th December 2012 www.theage.com.au

Giving - The Sperm and Egg Donor Perspective

The simple answer is to make money. But why come to the UK? Because in the UK there is a shortage of sperm and egg donors, or at least a perceived shortage, that's why. Whether or not there is a shortage depends who you speak to. Some British clinics have invested in advertising campaigns and the infrastructure to deal with the enquiries they generate and so have an excellent track record in recruiting donors. Other clinics appear to have given up and would rather refer patients to clinics overseas than to their colleagues (and competitors) down the street. So your impression of the situation depends very much on who you speak to at the Fertility Show. But what is the picture outside the microcosm of a wet weekend at Kensington Olympia? No one seems to know and this may be a stumbling block to finding a solution to this so-called shortage. The National Gamete Donation Strategy Group (NGDSG), a group set up by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), aims to find new approaches to raising awareness of donation and improving the care of donors in the UK. The Group needs to understand what the shortage is to assess the scale of the problem. I was honoured to be invited to join the NGDSG and am fully committed to its core objectives to: 1. increase awareness of donation and the information that donors receive 2. improve the 'customer service' that donors receive when they contact clinics 3. help donors provide better information about themselves for future families The NGDSG has only had one meeting (1), so it hasn't got all the answers yet, but if the enthusiasm and determination around the table at the first meeting are anything to go by I wouldn't rule it out. Other messages you hear about gamete donation at the exhibition stands at the Fertility Show are far from clear at best and downright misleading at their worst. There are clinics offering 'educated' donors, 'attractive' donors and 'caring' donors. While these attributes are something we may look for in a partner and we may desire for our children – who judges whether the donors meet these criteria and what difference does it make to the resulting child? For example, just considering the 'educated' description. What does this mean? According to the dictionary 'educated ' means 'having undergone education' or 'characterised by or displaying qualities of culture and learning'. Is being 'educated' therefore something children can inherit from a gamete donor? It is the old nature or nurture question all over again and to me it sounds more like nurture than nature. If you accept that it is nurture and you are using an anonymous donor from overseas that your child will never meet, what is the relevance of the 'educated' descriptor? If your child has the option of meeting the donor at 18 is it more important to you that the donor was educated? And if so, why? These questions are some of many which we will be addressing in our project 'When It Takes More Than Two'. The aim of the project is to clarify public and professional understanding of issues relating to donor conception, particularly in relation to identity and genetics. Donors are frequently sought and marketed on the basis of characteristics like being 'educated' whose heritability is complex or disputed at best, and non-existent at worst. The heritability of such personal predispositions is far more complex and contentious than the marketing materials would suggest. But even with more basic physical attributes – such as height (tallness is an almost universally preferred donor characteristic), hair and eye colour, which contain an element of Mendelian inheritance – observations show that strict Mendelian patterns of inheritance are not followed down the generations. The first event in a series of three is 'GIVING: THE GAMETE DONOR PERSPECTIVE'. A panel of speakers will address issues including what motivates people to donate, the criteria used to screen donors for their physiological and psychological health, and the placing of conditions upon the use of sperm or eggs one has donated. The latter is a controversial area where the HFEA has recently issued new policy, and where different parts of UK law are potentially in conflict. For example, a sperm donor may want to prevent his sperm from being used by a lesbian. The event it will take place on 12 December, for more details of this free event and others in the series please see the Progress Educational Trust's forthcoming events.

Male Sperm Counts drop by a third since 1990s

Male fertility under threat as sperm counts drop within past two decades. A comprehensive study into the reproductive health of 26,600 men found sperm concentration has decreased by a third since the 1990s. The findings are so significant experts have warned action must now be taken to avoid significant fertility problems and the average family size decreasing. The study, which was carried out in France, found there had been a ''significant and continuous'' 32.2 per cent decrease in sperm concentration over 17 years. Numbers of sperm per millilitre of semen fell at about two per cent a year between 1989 and 2005, with researchers calculating the average 35-year-old man would see his sperm count reduced from around 73.6 million per millilitre of semen to 49.9 million. At the same time, the proportion of normally formed sperm declined by about a third. Writing in the journal Human Reproduction, the French authors said the study was the first to identify a long-term ''severe and general decrease'' in sperm concentration and quality at the scale of a whole country. They added: ''This constitutes a serious public health warning. The link with the environment particularly needs to be determined.'' The scientists analysed data from semen samples collected from 126 fertility clinics throughout France. All the couples involved were seeking treatment because of female problems rather than obvious difficulties linked to sperm. Dr Joelle Le Moal, one of the researchers from the Institut de Veille Sanitaire in Saint Maurice, said: ''The decline in semen concentration shown in our study means that the average values we have for 2005 fall within the 'fertile' range for men according the definition of the World Health Organisation. "However, this is just an average, and there were men in the study who fell beneath the WHO values. ''The 2005 values are lower than the 55 million per millilitre threshold, below which sperm concentration is expected to influence the time it takes to conceive.'' More promisingly, the study also showed the proportion of active or ''motile'' sperm rose slightly from 49.5 per cent to 53.6 per cent. The findings support other research showing similar drops in sperm concentration and quality in recent years. Some studies have suggested that environmental factors, such as endocrine disrupters - chemicals that upset hormone balances in the body - might be behind the trend. Dr Le Moal said: ''Impairments in the quality of human gametes (male sperm and female eggs) can be considered as critical biomarkers of effects for environmental stresses, including endocrine disrupters. Firstly, this is because gametes are the very first cells from which human beings are built up during their lifetimes. ''According to the theories about the developmental origins of health and diseases, early exposures may have an impact on adult health.'' These effects can be passed down generations by the way they impact inherited DNA, she added. A national monitoring system to assess French sperm quality is now being planned by the scientists. Professor Richard Sharpe, from the University of Edinburgh, said: ''The take-home message from the study is extremely simple - sperm number and sperm quality has declined progressively over the study period. ''In the UK this issue has never been viewed as any sort of health priority, perhaps because of doubts as to whether 'falling sperm counts' was real. Now, there can be little doubt that it is real, so it is a time for action. "Doing nothing will ensure that couple fertility and average family size will decline below even its present low level and place ever greater strains on society.'' Article: 6th December 2012 www.telegraph.co.uk

Egg donor shortage in UK forces people to fertility clinics abroad

With a shortage of donors in the UK, foreign fertility clinics are proving big business for British women trying to get pregnant. However, says Claire Higney, success isn’t guaranteed I'll never forget turning to my husband Andy and saying, ‘If we can’t have children, I’ll never put my body through fertility treatment.’ I was 30 and couldn’t understand that desperation to have a baby I’d seen in some women. Of course, I was speaking with the arrogance of someone who had never faced infertility. Those words would come back to haunt me. Fast forward ten years, and I was sitting on a hotel bed in Spain with tears rolling down my face because I’d just been told by my Spanish fertility clinic that our two embryos ‘weren’t doing well’. It was likely that they’d have to cancel the cycle before I had what’s known as ‘the transfer’ to my womb. ‘We’ll only charge half the fee, though,’ the nurse said, as if that would suddenly make everything OK. I felt devastated. We’d decided to travel to Spain for egg donation after four miscarriages and two failed IVF attempts. By this point I understood the despair that women feel when they can’t have children. Egg donation was our last shot. I’d given up a job I loved on a national newspaper to focus on having a baby and we’d found another £10,000 – on top of more than £30,000 we’d already spent on investigations and treatment – to pay for it. Meanwhile, my friends were reproducing for England and I felt almost embarrassed that my body couldn’t do what it was meant to. While they were all cutting back on luxuries to afford nursery fees, I consoled myself with handbags: a Marc Jacobs tote here, a Mulberry clutch there. I’d just started ticking the ‘age: 40 to 42’ box on the medical forms, and according to figures from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, I now had just a 12.7 per cent chance of success using my own eggs. A donor egg carries an average 33.4 per cent success rate (I chose to ignore the fact that for my age group it was nearer 20 per cent). We’d have preferred to find an egg donor in the UK, but since the government removed anonymity from donors in 2005 there has been a shortage. And according to the latest figures, the average waiting time for donor eggs is two and a half years. Waiting times are much shorter in Spain, which tends to use younger donors and anonymity is guaranteed. It’s estimated that thousands of British women choose to go abroad for this reason every year, with Spain, Russia and the US being the most popular destinations. What kind of donor had they given me? Was she a heavy drinker or smoker? Could she have been over 35?’ After doing some research online, we opted for a clinic in Spain that promised 18- to 35-year-old donors who had been screened for genetic conditions and sexually transmitted diseases. We gave the clinic a photo of Andy and me so that they could try to find a donor who matched our characteristics. The staff spoke English and informed me I’d be able to have the preparatory hormone treatment in London and would need to go to Spain only for the embryo transfer. I was otherwise fit and healthy and Andy had no fertility issues, so surely our chances were good if we used the egg of a super-fertile 20-something? What’s more, the clinic said it had an impressive 55 per cent pregnancy rate with embryo transfer. Andy and I had discussed all the issues: would it be weird to have someone else’s DNA inside me? How would I feel about giving birth to another woman’s child? But friends reminded me that, unlike surrogacy, I’d get to carry the baby and it would share my blood supply, plus biologically it would be 50 per cent Andy’s genes. Also, my name would be on the birth certificate as the mother. We had the obligatory tests for HIV and hepatitis; Andy flew out to Spain to have a sperm sample frozen, and I was given an injection to shut down my menstrual cycle and began taking progesterone to prepare my womb lining, aspirin and heparin injections to thin my blood and improve the chances of implantation, plus steroids to help reduce risk of miscarriage. A few weeks later, the donor was ready for egg retrieval. Then the clinic called to say fertilisation had gone well and we had nine good embryos. We sped off to the airport with a good-luck stork charm from my sister-in-law and €500 from my parents so I didn’t ‘have to worry about finding a cashpoint’. When we arrived in Spain the clinic rang to say that the embryos were doing so well that they could go to the next stage and grow them a further two days to day five, which would give us a better chance of success. We headed off to a tapas bar that night feeling excited. The clinic had said they would contact us the next morning to tell us when to come in for the transfer, but by lunchtime there was no news. When I rang them all I got was voicemail. Then at 6pm I finally got a call from one of the nurses. ‘I’m sorry, Claire, but your embryos aren’t doing well,’ she said. ‘There are two left and they’re not looking good. It’s unlikely that we’ll be able to continue with the cycle. This is very unusual.’ So why was it happening to me? The heartache was so overwhelming it felt like physical pain – and I was angry, too. My own eggs had fared far better during IVF – at least I’d produced good-quality embryos that could be transferred. What kind of donor had they given me? Was she a drinker or a smoker? Could she have been over 35? We’d chosen an anonymous donor to make things less complicated in the future, but maybe the US system of choosing a donor based on detailed profiles, including family medical history and lifestyle checks, would have been more sensible. I felt naive for not having prepared myself for this scenario. Maybe I was blinded by hope; maybe I should have done more research. We went to bed that night resigned to the fact that we would be leaving with nothing to show for all those weeks of preparation, tests and treatment. The next morning was spent at the pool, trying to relax before flying home. At about midday my mobile rang. It was the clinic. Our two embryos were suddenly doing much better and I’d be able to have the transfer after all. We were surprised, but jumped in our hire car and raced to the clinic. The transfer went well and I was given a photo of my two embryos. In the run-up to the pregnancy test two weeks later I kept checking the picture, willing the embryos to stick. But they didn’t. After a blood test at our London clinic, I was told I wasn’t pregnant. I’d faced this disappointment many times before, but it was harder to accept this time, maybe because it felt like our last chance. The Spanish clinic rang me and suggested trying again. ‘Could I request a donor who’s had children herself or produced a successful pregnancy through donation?’ I enquired. ‘Yes, you can,’ she said. I was shocked. Why hadn’t anyone told me that previously? I had been led to believe that I had no influence over the choice of donor. Maybe it’s cynical, but after being told my embryos ‘weren’t looking good’, I couldn’t help wondering if they were substandard but had been implanted anyway so I could be charged the price of a full cycle. It was the end of the road for me. You need to know when to walk away. Somehow I knew I wouldn’t be one of those women who finally got her ‘miracle baby’ after 15 IVF attempts. Fertility treatment is wonderful when it gives you the child you’ve always dreamt of, but all we were left with was a file, three inches thick, cataloguing all our failures, test results and invoices adding up to nearly £50,000. Egg donation is no magic bullet. On average the chances of success are 33.4 per cent across the age groups, but when you break those figures down it’s just 20.8 per cent for women aged 40 to 42. My advice would be to give yourself a cutoff point and do your homework (see box). While sperm is easy to test for quality, eggs cannot be tested before they’re donated, so it’s wise to request a donor with a proven history of fertility. Fertility treatment can cause rifts even in the strongest of couples, but if anything the experience brought Andy and me closer. However, I wasn’t prepared to keep putting us through the stress of fertility treatment when the odds were so bad. Once we’d made the decision not to have more treatment, it was a huge relief. Andy and I are now in the adoption process. My attitude has changed, too – it’s not about having a baby, it’s about having a family to share our lives with and giving someone else the chance of a good life. The assessment period has been a positive experience and we’ve just been approved. Adopting a child is kind of like being pregnant – the months of preparation, wondering if it’ll be a boy or a girl and trying to imagine what this new person will look like. And, if the child turns out to be a girl, she’ll inherit some very cool handbags. Egg donation abroad: the facts Pip Morris of the National Gamete Donation Trust (NGDT), a charity trying to tackle the UK’s shortage of egg and sperm donors, has this advice… ● Look at the clinic’s success rate in your age group; the age of its donors (ideally 18-35); its genetic and medical screening for donors; its country’s law regarding anonymity; whether the clinic does many such procedures, and if it’s linked with UK clinics so you can have some of the treatments here. ● Read the small print: I’ve heard about a donor who was named on a birth certificate, which had huge implications for her and the couple who had wanted an anonymous donor. In the UK, donors must be prepared to be identified and traced when the child reaches 18. ● Many people go to foreign clinics because of shorter waiting lists, but you still need to consider the implications of carrying another woman’s egg. ● It’s important to trust the clinic; find out how it is monitored and if it has ever been inspected for irregularities. ● UK donors are typically older — aged 30 to 35 — but have usually had their own children and so have proven fertility. However, waiting lists are long — typically two and a half years unless you find your own donor — which is why NGDT is trying to raise awareness. ● Finally, remember, even with egg donation, overall there’s still only a 33.4 per cent success rate. Article: 2nd December 2012 www.dailymail.co.uk

Woman with first ever successful womb transplant to undergo IVF

A woman who had the world’s first successful womb transplant is set to undergo IVF in a bid to fulfil her dream of motherhood. Thousands of British women born without a womb will be given hope if the breakthrough treatment succeeds. Speaking in London last week, her surgeon Professor Omer Ozkan revealed that the married housewife has responded so well to treatment that his medical team is confident the first ‘donor womb’ pregnancy is now possible. But some British experts, including Lord Winston, claim that a pregnancy could cause potentially fatal complications. And the baby would have to be born by caesarean, which carries the risks of surgery. Prof Ozkan, who performed the pioneering transplant on 22-year-old Derya Sert in August last year, announced her IVF treatment at a conference attended by the world’s top transplant specialists. The event was organised by Richard Smith, a consultant at Imperial College London who could be ready to perform similar operations on British women in just two years. Prof Ozkan, from Akdeniz University in Antalya, Turkey, also revealed three more women are to undergo transplants at his clinic, providing Mrs Sert has a healthy baby. Prof Ozkan said: ‘This is the longest time any woman has gone without rejecting an implanted womb and we wanted to reach the year-and-a-half mark before going ahead. That will hopefully happen in three months’ time as things are looking good so far.’ He described Mrs Sert’s health as ‘absolutely normal’, adding: ‘It’s not only important for us to have this contact for the patient, it’s also important for future cases.’ Mrs Sert, who is married to 35-year-old Mustafa, has said: ‘If I had a magic wand, I would want to be pregnant now. I just want to hold my baby in my arms, to be a mother.’ Prof Ozkan and his team will take two out of eight embryos frozen before Mrs Sert’s treatment, thaw them and transfer them into her uterus. The hope is this will lead to at least one baby – or even twins. There are at least 15,000 women in Britain alone who were born without a womb or who have had theirs removed as a result of cancer or other medical issues. TV presenter Yvette Fielding revealed in 2009 that she had undergone a hysterectomy to stop her agonising periods. Fielding already has two children. However, many women are childless when they have the drastic surgery. Those in favour of womb transplants argue it is the only way to meet the desperate desire of many of these women to ‘carry’ their own baby. This need cannot be met if they use another woman as a surrogate, a controversial process that is strictly regulated in the UK and illegal in some countries, including France and Germany. Many British couples end up travelling to India, where clinics hire out women as surrogates. However, this is fraught with legal issues. For example, couples whose surrogate children are born abroad have to go to court in the UK to ‘prove’ they are the legal parents. Adoption does not give a woman the chance to have a child who is genetically her own and, again, there is a strict vetting procedure. Surgeon Mr Smith has spent more than 15 years researching the possibility of pregnancy among women who have had womb transplants. In July, he revealed his team had achieved the first successful pregnancy in a rabbit with a transplanted uterus, although the animal went on to miscarry. He now plans to carry out the procedure on five more rabbits before it is trialled in sheep. Only then will Mr Smith approach UK ethics committees for approval to try it on humans. Women who have lost their wombs to cancer need to have been free of the disease for at least five years before they can be considered for a transplant. But womb transplants have been criticised by experts because they are not carried out to ‘save a life’. Risks include rejection of the new womb and potential side effects during pregnancy from the powerful anti-rejection drugs. After the first womb transplant, carried out in Saudi Arabia in 2000, the donated organ ‘failed’ after three months because the blood vessels used to connect it were too narrow and became blocked by clots. However, Prof Ozkan does not doubt womb transplants are worth the risks for thousands of women otherwise unable to have a ‘normal’ pregnancy. He said: ‘Many people think that womb transplants aren’t necessary because they’re not lifesaving operations and that women have the option of adoption or surrogacy. ‘But we’ve had applications from women all over the world wanting womb transplants. This is absolutely necessary for these women: you just have to ask them to realise this.’ A total of 100 women have now been screened by Prof Ozkan in addition to Mrs Sert, who received her healthy organ from a car-crash victim. Ten of these have been selected as possible recipients. Of these, three have been approved for a transplant and have undergone fertility treatment. This has resulted in viable embryos, which have been put on ice. Prof Ozkan could now have a race on his hands to become the first doctor to achieve a successful pregnancy from a womb transplant. Swedish experts carried out two procedures in September, both involving the world’s first mother-to-daughter uterus transplants. This week, they announced another two operations – a mother-to-daughter and an aunt-to-niece – with more transplants scheduled for early 2013. All involve live transplants, whereas Prof Ozkan’s Turkish team used wombs from dead donors. The scientists and doctors at the University of Gothenburg have received approval to complete ten procedures in total. The remaining six procedures, scheduled for next year, include a woman donating to her son’s wife and another giving her womb to her younger sister. The next step is to begin embryo implantation at the end of 2013. Professor Mats Brannstrom, who is leading the research team, told The Mail on Sunday that some of his patients have bonded over their shared dream of becoming mothers: ‘The first couples had wanted to meet so three are now really good friends. When the first one had the transplant, she was straight on to the internet telling the others.’ All his patients are Swedish, although at least one British woman has been assessed for treatment. Eva Ottoson, who lives in Nottingham, had hoped to have her womb transplanted into her daughter Sara, 26, who lives in Sweden. But she has been rejected on medical grounds. Doctors are divided over whether to use living or dead donors. Some experts are uncomfortable with taking the womb from a living woman when it is not for life-saving reasons. With live transplants, there are risks to two living patients. However, an organ from a living donor can be a better match. Article: 1st December 2012 www.dailymail.co.uk

Overcoming vaginal dryness to help your fertility naturally

Recent article talks about how to improve fertility naturally and talks about the benefit of using sperm friendly lubricant for helping you conceive. In a 2012 article published in journal Human Reproduction, researchers estimated that the current infertility rate in Canada ranged from 11.5% to 15.7%. Both of these estimates represented an increase in current infertility prevalence in Canada when compared with previous national estimates. A new review paper entitled "Overcoming Vaginal Dryness and Improving your Fertility – Naturally" by Dr. Judith Fiore, N.D., Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine and Natural Fertility Expert in Toronto, is now available for free download to help couples trying to conceive. Toronto, Ontario (PRWEB) November 30, 2012 In a 2012 article published in the journal Human Reproduction, researchers estimated that the current Canadian infertility rate (measured as greater than 12 months trying to conceive) ranged from 11.5% to 15.7%. Both of these estimates represented an increase in current infertility prevalence in Canada when compared with previous national estimates. When trying to conceive naturally many couples are unaware that there are actions they can take themselves to complement any therapeutic approach. A new review paper entitled "Overcoming Vaginal Dryness and Improving your Fertility – Naturally" by Dr. Judith Fiore, N.D., Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine and Natural Fertility Expert in Toronto is now available at the Canadian Zestica Fertility website for free download. In the paper Dr Fiore shares her insights and experience on what has helped many couples achieve "baby making" success. Her insight and tips for natural ways to increase a couple's chances of conceiving include advice on what to look for in a sperm-friendly personal lubricant to overcome vaginal dryness and help sperm motility, and what it really means to follow a healthy diet and a healthy lifestyle. Dr Fiore also covers the importance of sleep, exercise and stress management as well as sharing her thoughts on timed lovemaking. The paper can be downloaded from the www.zesticafertility.ca homepage Article: 30th November 2012 www.sfgate.com

Opportunity to help understand the changing face of Donation

My name is Stephen Whyte and I am a social sciences researcher from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane (QUT), Australia. I’m conducting research into the changing market for Donors and women seeking donors for DI, IUI, ICSI and IVF treatment. As a father of three beautiful sons myself, I am lucky enough to already know “why” people are seeking the amazing gift of parenthood. What my study is seeking to establish is the driving factors behind the potential parents and donors seeking to step away from the current public and private sector options for donor insemination treatment. My research aims to better understand the participants in this new market place (Website Forums for Donation), so that fiscal policy and legislation can affect more socially beneficial outcomes. Government policy is often based on stringent un-biased academic research such as the type I am attempting to conduct. I am seeking to better understand the donors and potential parents involved in websites such as Pride Angel. To do this I first need to have an understanding of the people involved and what has brought them to participate in such online forums. I have created a short survey that takes approximately five - ten minutes for donors and ten – fifteen minutes for people seeking donors to fill in. The survey does not ask you to personally identify yourself, it is completely anonymous. We do not wish to identify you now or in the future. What we do want is a general demographic outline of you, so as to form a better idea of what has brought you to this forum. Understanding how you have got to this point, the factors that drive you and what is influencing your selection is the essence of this research. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. I would ask and hope that you follow the links below, fill in our survey and help us in our research endeavour. Thank you and good luck in your pursuit of the amazing gift of life. If you are a donor please fill in the survey at this link: www.survey.qut.edu.au/survey/175520/e66c/ If you are looking for a donor please fill in the survey at this link: www.survey.qut.edu.au/survey/175495/125c/ Article: 28th November 2012 by Stephen Whyte - Social sciences researcher from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane (QUT), Australia

Egg Freezing - women still leaving it too late to have a baby

Leading Fertility expert Dr Gillian Lockwood says that women are still leaving it to late to try and have a baby. Dr Lockwood has suggested that Egg freezing should be every father’s graduation present to his daughter. Dr Lockwood, of the Midland Fertility Centre, where half of Britain’s babies conceived from frozen eggs originated, said young women are still not getting the message about infertility. She told The Times: ‘One part of me wants to say that [egg freezing] should be every dad’s graduation present for his daughter. It would be a very safe, low dose, and you could have 20 beautiful eggs in the freezer. 'But – and it’s a very big but – I’m concerned about how that would alter a woman’s life choices, that they might think: “Well, instead of having a family with Mr Not Quite Perfect, I can afford to wait for Mr Absolutely perfect”. In Britain, women are delaying childbirth later than ever: the average woman here has her first child at 31, compared to 24 in 1962. About 6,500 eggs have been stored in Britain in the decade since egg freezing was licensed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). Yet the chances of conceiving a baby from a frozen egg are low, and preparing for it is a painful, costly process involving potent fertility drugs, chemicals and surgery. Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston is rumoured to have frozen her eggs, and in a recent episode of the U.S. reality television show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Kim injected herself with hormones in preparation for doing the same. But despite egg freezing being something often talked about as a viable option, just 12 babies have been born from frozen eggs in this country. However this may slowly change after a recent report by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) stated that egg freezing is no longer experimental technology. The organisation has recommended that women freeze their eggs in their 20s and 30s to help them conceive later in life. And it is timing that is key, says Dr Lockwood. 'By the time many women decide they want to freeze their eggs, they are often in their late 30s, when their eggs have declined in quality significantly. I get many calls from women around the age of 38 who want their eggs frozen,’ she told the Mail last month. Last year Brigitte Adams decided to freeze her eggs at the age of 38, to safeguard what was left of her fertility ‘A frozen egg from a 38-year-old will be better than a fresh one from a 42-year-old, but pregnancy is still not very likely.’ Dr Lockwood added that a 30-year-old who freezes her eggs would have a 30-40 per cent chance of having a child. After 38, this falls to 25 per cent. And even freezing your eggs at 30 could have its downsides, she said. 'Will it mean a woman waits around all her life for Mr Perfect, knowing she has healthy eggs from her 30-year-old self in the freezer, but then becomes bitter because she has rejected all the Mr Pretty Well Good Enoughs and found herself single and childless at 45, with frozen eggs that turned out not to work?’ Other experts have cautioned that egg freezing is by no means a fail-safe insurance policy. Dr Magdy Asaad, clinical director of the London Fertility Centre, says the chances of getting a baby from a frozen egg are about 1 to 3 per cent for each egg. Also, only eight out of ten eggs survive the thawing process and there are still some concerns about whether egg freezing is effective or safe in terms of the long-term health of children. There have also been suggestions that chemicals applied to the egg wall during flash-freezing could potentially damage the egg. Egg freezing is funded by the NHS if carried out for women having cancer treatment. Otherwise it costs £5,000 per cycle, then £200 a year to pay for safe storage of the eggs. One woman who chose to freeze her eggs was Brigitte Adams. Last year, at the age of 38, she decided to take action to safeguard what was left of her fertility. She told The Times: 'I know I have less than a 30 per cent chance - but it's better than zero chance. I feel I have at least done something proactive and have a back-up plan.' She has gone on to found the website Eggsurance to encourage other women to think about freezing their eggs as an 'insurance policy' that can be used later. Ms Adams was 37 when she started thinking about the procedure. 'I just always expected that at my age I would already have kids. I also had some close friends who were either going through difficult IVF treatments or looking into the adoption process. 'I contacted a fertility doctor in my city who told me to “just get pregnant". Not exactly what I wanted to hear.' She adds that she assumed because she ate well and exercised that she must have a healthy supply of eggs. 'So I was surprised when I learned that maternal age directly correlates to the health of your eggs.' Her family were incredibly supportive, she says. 'My parents were all for it and even offered to pay for some of the treatment costs. My friends, on the other hand, were shocked initially as they did not know anybody who had had their eggs frozen. 'However, once I explained the procedure to them they were extremely supportive and of great help. You really need a strong support system through a process like this as it is both physically and emotionally challenging.' Article: 26th November 2012 www.dailymail.co.uk

118 MPs may vote against the new Gay Marriage Bill

118 Conservative MPs could potentially vote against government plans to legalise marriage rights for gay couples the Daily Mail has reported. The story was carried large on Saturday’s front page and has been written by the paper’s columnist Andrew Pierce Mr Pierce has previously voiced his opposition to equal marriage despite claiming to be a supporter of gay rights. According to the Mail, 118 out of 303 Conservative MPs have reportedly written to their constituents about their unease over the policy. Unlike Labour and the Lib Dems, Tory MPs have been granted a free vote on the issue. Even if 118 Conservative MPs voted against an equal marriage bill – it would still be likely to pass through the House of Commons as most of Labour and nearly all Lib Dem MPs are expected to back the measure. Conor Burns, the gay Conservative MP for Bournemouth West, Branksome East and Alderney, is cited in the Mail as a key parliamentary opponent. Last month, the MP told the Belfast News Letter that civil partnership legislation had granted gay couples all of the necessary legal entitlements. However, Sky News reports on Saturday that Mr Burns hasn’t decided whether to abstain or vote in favour but says he doesn’t understand why it’s being brought forward now. It is the second time the Daily Mail has splashed heavily on equal marriage in successive days. Claims made by the paper on Thursday evening, that David Cameron was looking to “fast-track” equal marriage legislation have since been downplayed by Whitehall officials. Article: 23rd November 2012 www.pinknews.co.uk

Gay and lesbian families to be given legal protection in Ireland

Ireland to introduce a new bill to give greater protection for gay and lesbian families. Ireland’s Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN) has welcomed comments made by Justice Minister Alan Shatter on the need to improve legal provision for gay parents and their children with new legislation. Speaking at an LGBT reception on Wednesday, Mr Shatter confirmed that the Irish government would bring forward new legislation to secure “equal citizenship for lesbian and gay parents”. Mr Shatter announced a comprehensive Family Relationships and Children Bill, to be enacted by the end of 2013, which will provide for relationships of guardianship, custody and access for children in lesbian and gay headed families. The proposed bill will also provide greater financial security for the children of same-sex parents by addressing maintenance and inheritance rights, and issues concerning assisted human reproduction. In response, the chair of GLEN Kieran Rose said: “This is great news for lesbian and gay couples who are parenting children. One of the most urgent issues for these parents is the lack of legal certainty for their families and the lack of protection and security for their children. “The reforms the minister outlined this evening will transform the status of these families, and secure for their children the range of protections and supports available to children in other families.” Article: 21st November 2012 www.pinknews.co.uk

Known sperm donors discussed on Woman's hour

Natalie was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour on Thursday on the topic of private sperm donation. The programme feature NGA client Mark Langridge (the donor who has been pursued for child support by the CSA twelve years after donating his sperm to a lesbian couple) and Laura Witjens, Chief Executive of the National Gamete Donation Trust, with Jenni Murray asking ‘what makes a father’? You can listen to Natalie on Woman’s Hour here. At NGA, we advise many prospective parents (and donors) considering a known donation arrangement, helping them to set things up with the strongest foundations. We sadly also help people whose known donation arrangements have broken down, both representing donors pursued for child support and lesbian and solo parents whose donors seek more involvement than they want. You can find out more about known donation and about known donor disputes.

Test for High Sperm Damage - a leading cause of unexplained infertility

New research from Queen's University Belfast has uncovered the cause of infertility for 80 per cent of couples previously diagnosed with 'unexplained infertility'. In a study of 239 couples with that diagnosis, researchers found that in 80% of cases, the men had high sperm DNA damage. They can now be fast tracked to the appropriate treatment for that specific problem. Every year, about 50,000 couples in the UK require fertility treatment. These findings will save them time, money and heartache, Queen's scientists said. Professor Sheena Lewis from the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences at Queen's, said this was "a huge finding". She said it was a breakthrough rather than a cure, but that it offered "a way to fertility". "For almost one third of couples, until now, there has been no obvious cause for infertility and these couples are given the diagnosis of 'unexplained infertility'," she said. "These couples often invest a lot of time and money in fertility treatments like intra-uterine insemination which are unlikely to be successful. "In our study, we have now had a breakthrough which explains the cause of infertility for many of those couples. "Now that we have found the cause of infertility for these couples, suitable treatments can be tailored for them which will direct them straight to the best treatment and increase their chances of having a baby." Professor Lewis said a million couples across the world were being investigated for infertility every year. Professor Sheena Lewis said this was a "huge finding" "This will save them time, it will save them money and it will save them the heartache of failed fertility treatments," she said. "Nothing is a guarantee but it will give them a better chance." The study also has a second major finding. It is the first study to show that the chances of having a baby after IVF is closely related to the amount of DNA damage a man has in each of his sperm. The university is also working through Lewis Fertility Testing to make the test available to anyone who needs it. The test is also being trialled in China. Professor Lewis said the breakthrough was a result of local talent and was having a global impact. However, Professor Christopher Barratt, professor of reproductive Medicine at the University of Dundee said that most clinics would not test for high sperm damage because of uncertainty over what to do with the results. He also pointed out that although high sperm damage was found in the majority of couples, it may not be the only cause of their fertility problems. "Whether this type of testing predicts which treatment you should is not yet clear. "The question is whether this type of testing is going to help and that is where the evidence needs to be stronger." Article: 14th November 2012 www.bbc.co.uk

Woman 58 acts as surrogate to her own daughter

A woman in her 50s will give birth to her own children after becoming a surrogate mother for her infertile daughter. Cathy Donnelly, 58, is six months pregnant and will welcome her seventh grandchild into the world when she gives birth to her - before daughter Shannon Fischer raises the baby. Mrs Fischer and her husband Jamie had been trying for two years when they discovered they couldn’t conceive due to scarring in her uterus. So Mrs Donnelly mother of three and a grandmother of six, volunteered to be a surrogate mother for her daughter. Mrs Fischer said: 'The day I came home from my surgery mum said "I'll do it". She didn't hesitate.' Mrs Donnelly, from London in Ontario, Canada, said: 'I felt bad for them - I just thought what’s nine months of my life? They are going to have a child for the rest of theirs? It's not like I'm busy doing anything.' He said: 'Usually it’s a close friend or a sister that acts as the gestational carrier - women who are over 45-years-old are not normally in good enough health. 'Pregnancy for older women is much riskier. The most common complications are high blood pressure, gestational diabetes and premature child birth.' But they were risks Mrs Donnelly was willing to accept and while she admits her pregnancy hasn’t been easy, she has had no complications so far. 'It was long process and involved a heavy dose of fertility drugs for both of us but in the end it all paid off. 'I was standing in line for a coffee when I got a call from my doctor confirming I was pregnant. I was just bawling - people must have thought someone close to me died. 'But it has been challenging. Now I’m showing I make sure people aren’t staring or looking at me because they’re probably thinking ‘look at that old lady.' Mrs Donnelly said she did question whether she was doing the right thing and if everything would work out okay until she started to feel the baby move. Now her only concerns are about how she will feel once she has given birth. 'I don't know if I'll feel like I've lost her, I don't know how I'm going to feel,' Mrs Donnelly said. Shannon plans to name her daughter Zoey Hope Catherine after her mother. And for her the whole experience has made her cherish their mother-daughter relationship even more. She said: 'It just changes your relationship 360 degrees. We were close before but it’s just on a whole new level. I want to be like she is to my own daughter, that caring and willing to do stuff for her. Article: 16th November 2012 www.dailymail.co.uk

Maternity leave to be granted for parents through Surrogacy

We are pleased to say that the government announced yesterday that they would be introducing adoption leave (equivalent to maternity leave) rights for parents through surrogacy. After campaigning for more than five years, Natalie Gamble Associates are thrilled ‘Some days I feel very proud of what we do here, and today is one of those days’ Until now, parents whose biological child is carried by another woman have had no rights to time off work when their new baby arrives, unlike parents who give birth or who adopt a child. This has been grossly unfair, and resulted in parents through surrogacy having to quit their jobs or go back to work if their employer does not (or cannot) give leave on a discretionary basis. The new rights will be introduced as part of the government’s maternity leave and adoption leave reforms, expected to come into force in 2015. Although the full detail has yet to be confirmed, we know that parents through surrogacy will be entitled to two antenatal appointments during the pregnancy, and adoption leave after the birth. This will be available to all couples eligible to apply for a parental order, including heterosexual parents and gay dads. Surrogate mothers will also retain their right to maternity leave to recover from giving birth. More information is available in the government’s response to the consultation on modern workplaces which says: We propose that intended parents in surrogacy cases who satisfy the criteria for a Parental Order and intend to apply, or have applied, to a court for a Parental Order will be entitled to leave and pay on the same basis as adopters who are eligible for statutory adoption leave and pay, subject to the qualifying conditions and evidential requirements. In addition, both intended parents will be entitled to take unpaid time off to attend two antenatal appointments with the surrogate mother carrying their child. What is so exciting about the change, as well as the practical legal rights it will introduce for new parents, is that this is the very first time in UK legal history that parents through surrogacy have been recognised as having any rights in advance of the birth of their child. This is a very significant recognition that surrogacy is real and here to stay, and hopefully a first step towards wider reform of our surrogacy laws. Read more information about surrogacy law and more about Natalie Gamble Associates' campaigning work. Article: 15th November 2012 www.nataliegambleassociates.co.uk

DuoFertility monitor a success in Britain expands into the US

Fertility monitor which accurately measures basal body temperature is a success in the UK, helping many couples have a baby. Most entrepreneurs care deeply about their businesses but they’re not usually reduced to tears by a successful sale. For Oriane Chausiaux, of Cambridge Temperature Concepts, which provides fertility monitoring for couples struggling to have a baby, the early successes of the business had as much emotional impact as financial. “After the thirtieth pregnancy I managed to stop crying when I heard the news,” says Dr Chausiaux. The company makes a monitor called DuoFertility. This is a small sensor worn by a woman under her armpit, which sends signals about body temperature and sleep patterns throughout the day and night to an analytics centre in Cambridge, using wireless technology. These signals build up a picture about when she is most fertile, because the presence of different hormones affects body temperature. Users can call up the centre at any time to discuss the results with a fertility expert. The device is not cheap – it sells for about £500 in the UK, through the company’s website, Boots online and Pride Angel, but includes all the analytics and communications with the company, which offers a guaranteed refund to women who don’t fall pregnant within 12 months. The price is cheap compared to IVF treatment, which costs between £5,000 and £7,000 per cycle in the UK. The monitor is only suitable for couples who don’t have medical issues that mean IVF is the only way they could conceive but, because about a third of patients who have IVF in the UK suffer from “unexplained infertility”, there is still a large market to go for, says Dr Shamus Husheer, chief executive. The monitor had an unconventional birth. It was the brainchild of Dr Husheer when he was a nuclear and structural chemistry PhD student, working in a particle accelerator in France. He was inspired by the difficulty his parents had in conceiving him and by new battery technology which generated power from the body. He recruited Dr Chausiaux, who is now the head scientist, and four other Cambridge PhD students to help him build a prototype and come up with a business plan. What they developed was a medical device that, in its first form, was “a shoebox full of electronics which you strapped to your body”. The idea won the scientists £1,000 and then £20,000 in competitions run by Cambridge University. They used the money to pay for filing a patent and building a prototype. At the end of 2007, they raised £250,000 from angel investors in the Cambridge area, to develop the DuoFertility monitor. Even when they were still at the shoebox stage, they were contacted by couples wanting to pay to have a monitor built for them. Dr Chausiaux says: “That showed us the need really was there.” Dr Husheer adds: “We also didn’t appreciate how huge the mental and psychological side was when we started off. The couples were always on the phone to us to talk about their condition and we realised we were providing a service that was not available to them anywhere else.” After being screened to check their fertility issues are within the limits the monitor can help with, Cambridge Temperature Concepts says couples who use it for six months have the same chance of getting pregnant as someone of the same age on a cycle of IVF. While growth in the past four years has been “spiky”, Dr Husheer admits, the firm now has 2,000 customers and expects turnover to rise to £2.5m in 2012-13. However, growing through UK retail has been slower and trickier than the pair anticipated and the founders are in the middle of a £1m fund-raising to help to pay for plans to expand in the US. They are hoping that American doctors will recommend the product to patients. The opportunity in the US, where a cycle of IVF can cost as much as $20,000 (£12,500), is an order of magnitude greater than in the UK, Dr Husheer says. “We believe there are 400,000 women in the US a year for whom our product is the right thing.” However, there is also a new opportunity in the UK – the company has been accepted for a trial by the NHS, with the same guarantee that it will reimburse the health service after a year if the patient does not fall pregnant. “There’s a push into payment for outcomes by the Department of Health, so we’re ticking the political boxes too,” says Dr Husheer. Since the first fund-raising from angel investors, they have raised money “a couple” more times the same way, although they still own just over 50pc of the company. “The main things we need to finance now are some people with deep commercial experience in the US, and staff in the UK to do the fertility analysis,” says Dr Husheer. The company hopes to be able to provide the same level of support as it does now for 10,000 people after this round of hiring. All the analytics staff will be based in Cambridge, in large part hired from the town’s universities. The DuoFertility monitor has gained the approval of the US medical regulator, the FDA, and the company is marketing it to the obstetricians and gynaecologists American women typically visit rather than GPs. “Our experience with the FDA was not nearly as bad as some of the rumours suggest,” said Dr Husheer. “They seemed pretty responsive to us because our device is non-invasive and we have a lot of field data from using it in Europe.” Article: 13th November 2012 www.telegraph.co.uk

Artist Grayson Perry to paint portraits of modern alternative families

Joe Evans an arts documentary producer is currently working with the Turner-prize winning artist Grayson Perry on a new series about portraiture for Channel 4. For this series, Grayson wants to capture the truth about modern British identity by doing a series of portraits of people whose stories tell us something important about whom we are now. To make the portraits, Grayson will spend time with his subjects, talking in detail about their lives, and really trying to understand who they are. The portraits Grayson makes will form part of an exhibition which we hope will tour several major art galleries around Britain. Joe is seeking to contact couples or individuals embarking on the search for an egg or sperm donor, and who ultimately would like co-parent with the donor. If you are about to embark on this journey, are interested in this project, and feel comfortable discussing the possibility of us documenting your experiences for TV, then please do email joeevans@senecaproductions.com or contact us at Pride Angel for more information. If you would like to watch the last series we made with Grayson Perry for Channel 4, it is available to view here: www.channel4.com Article: 11th November 2012 Joe Evans

British comedy series about becoming a surrogate for your gay best friends

Fyrian Films bring you their first project - The first British gay web series and winner of Raindance’s Best Web Pilot Competition in 2011. The Vessel features a young, talented British cast: Phillip Whiteman (InkHeart), Lily Brown (The Friday Night Project) and Giovanni Bienne, with guest star appearances from Robin Soans (The Queen) and Louise Jameson (Dr. Who, Eastenders) as well as award winning stand up comedian Shazia Mirza. "I saw the pilot of The Vessel at Raindance late last year and for me it ticked all the boxes: a persuasive story line, commanding performances and created with a cheeky style that has 'Raindance' all over it" - Elliot Grove, Founder of Raindance Film Festival Synopsis: Rory and Mike want to have a baby together. This is where their best friend Kim comes in. Over ten episodes and nine months we follow Kim as she helps this unconventional family bring a new life into the world. But with boyfriends, exes and conservative grandparents on the scene plus some fiery pregnancy hormones – will Kim come to regret her decision? Is she really ready to give up her body, career, love-life, tennis lessons and, of course, the baby…? The series embraces the topical subject matter of same sex parenting and surrogacy and is filmed ‘Peep Show’ style from Kim’s (the surrogate) point of view you get to see all of the action through the surrogate’s eyes never getting to see her face or reactions. We want the audience to be able to identify with what must sound to most of them like a very alien experience. To make this look as natural as possible we decided to film every episode as a single continuous take – a snapshot into the lives of these three complicated characters. To maintain this sense of reality every episode is shot as a single continuous take and the dialogue stays fresh and spontaneous through improvisation. Web series continue to proliferate and challenge the popularity of their television counterparts. This medium provides a platform for independent producers and writers to create their own work free of controlling studios and commissioners - no matter how small the budget or how crazy the idea. Producing the series in this way certainly brought its own challenges but it allowed us the freedom to tell a different story in the way, we think, works best. We invite you to take a look through the eyes of The Vessel. "The Vessel is original and genuinely funny." - Rupert Bryan, CEO Motion Picture House Broadcast Schedule: - Episode 1 will be released at 8pm on Sunday 21st October. - Each episode will be released weekly on Sunday nights at 8pm from the above date with the season finale on 23rd December - just in time for Christmas! Please place links to our website social networking sites: www.thevesselseries.com, https://twitter.com/thevesselseries, http://www.facebook.com/TheVesselSeries For any producer, director or cast interviews and photos please get in touch here: info@thevesselseries.com

Planet London - the ultimate guide to lesbian London

Planet London the ultimate guide to lesbian London is a listings and lifestyle website aimed at lesbians in London. We have been running since March 2011, however we originally came up with the concept a couple of years before. We realised how hard it can be to find out, with any sense of accuracy, to find out what events and other social activities are going on for lesbians and bi women in London. The print listings are often not detailed enough as they are monthly publications, and online listings were often years out of date or leading to non existent websites. The lesbian community scene in London changes fast, and on hearing many of our friends bemoan the fact “there was nothing on for them” that night, when in fact there could be 10 or 12 events to choose from, we decided to get to work and launch Planet London – as a one stop shop that brings all the up-to-date information about events and social activities for lesbians and bi women of London in one easy place. Our main feature is our events calendar. We work tirelessly online and with our event organiser contacts to ensure this is as up to date as possible, listing as many of the events as we can find (new and regular) so women know what’s out there for then. This is a major part of our mission as well as working in partnership with the community to deliver the knowledge. We supplement the calendar with further information through our listings, features and reviews to help women make decisions about what social activities might suit them. The site has grown and evolved over the last 20 months, and we are building the lifestyle content to reflect the interests and needs of our visitors. Developments over the last year or so include a film review blog, a section on different aspects of starting a family and a super blog that is available on Kindle as well as making as much use of social media as possible (you can follow us on twitter @PLanetLondon or Facebook via). We are very proud of the fact we have a grass roots foundation and have come up out of the lesbian and bi women’s community in London. We are always keen to hear feedback and new ideas for content on the site – so please get in touch via social media or admin@planet-london.com

Single man becomes a Dad through Surrogacy in UK

Yesterday's ITV Daybreak featured Kyle Casson, a single dad who Natalie Gamble Associates are proud to be working with on his journey to become the first single parent through surrogacy in the UK. Well done to Kyle for speaking out so bravely, and for being such a great a champion for solo dads. Kyle spoke characterically warmly about his plans to be a father. He has always wanted children, and wants to do it in his twenties (with active grandparents) rather than waiting for a partner who may not come along. He has planned things carefully, is financially secure, has the enthusiastic support of his family, and has a surrogate who wants to help him. You can see Kyle talking about his story on ITV Daybreak here. So what does the law say? The law in the UK has never made it illegal to enter into a surrogacy arrangement as a single father. But it doesn’t make it easy either. Most parents through surrogacy (including gay dads and unmarried couples) can apply for a ‘parental order’ after their child is born. This is an order made by the family court which gives the intended parents a new birth certificate and extinguishes the responsibilities of the surrogate mother. Single parents are not, however, eligible to apply. This means it is perfectly legal for Kyle to have a child through surrogacy in the UK, but the normal solution for families created through surrogacy (designed to give lifelong security and certainty for the child) is not available. He will have to get creative with using law designed for other purposes to secure his family and resolve the position of his surrogate – adoption being the best alternative to a parental order if the family court will agree to help. Natalie Gamble Associates (NGA) call to action On behalf of Kyle and the increasing numbers of solo prospective dads NGA are advising (some going abroad for surrogacy, others entering into co-parenting arrangements. NGA call for parental orders to be made available to solo parents. The law has already been extended, in 2008, to allow gay dads and unmarried couples to apply, and it is now time to allow single parents to apply too. This would bring the law into line with adoption law, which allows single parents to become adopters, and with reproductive law for women which was specifically amended in 2008 to allow solo mums to conceive through donor insemination. NGA frequently see heartbreaking cases caused by the denial of surrogacy to single parents. A change to the law would benefit not only prospective solo dads like Kyle, but also single women who have survived cancer and need the help of a surrogate to carry their child, and widowed fathers who want to use embryos in storage, just as widowed mothers are able to do. And what do we say to people (like the lady on Daybreak with Kyle this morning) who say that such solo parents who want to have children are selfish? Well, wanting to be a parent is something most human beings experience, so it comes down to whether children suffer harm if raised without a mother and a father. This is an old question for non-traditional families, and the answer (backed by long research, including by the Centre for Family Research at Cambridge University) is that children in deliberately created non-traditional families (including solo parent families) have good outcomes, and are in a very different position from children whose parents have separated. It is the quality of the relationships which matters, and not the gender or number of the parents. Article source: 5th November 2012 www.nataliegambleassociates.co.uk